Beautiful Pain
by CopperCow
Summary: Here's how sixth year will go: Kim's pregnant, Harry's stalking Pansy, Ginny can sense horcruxes, and someone's after Dumbledore... Sounds like yet another year at Hogwarts! Twin sister fic, Kim/DM, RLSB, Half Blood Prince AU, preg, minor character deaths
1. Secure

**A/N: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**This is the fourth instalment in a series. If you haven't read the others, this may be a tad confusing. But if you don't want to and get confused, you can PM me if you have a question.**

Chapter 1

She never felt safer than when she was in his arms. The newspapers called him a Death Eater, a traitor, and a murderer. She called him a loyal servant, a fighter, and her lover.

She had met him at a summer ball her parents held and was pleasantly surprised to find him amongst the snotty, obnoxious purebloods. Instead of overconfident and rude, he was eager to please and had a cute squeaky stutter that she found endearing. She was consumed by his very being from the start and would do anything he said. Even kill someone.

"I will help you every step of the way," he whispered in her ear, making her shiver with delight. "I know you can do it."

No one had ever put such faith in her. Everyone, even her friends, thought she was stupid and could only follow simple instructions. "Do you really…This is Albus Dumbledore, we're talking about. He'll outsmart me."

He shook his head, kissing her neck. "He'll be dead before he realizes how clever you are. The old man underestimates his students. Look at what he thought about me. Without him, Potter will be more vulnerable. You saw what happened in June. Imagine how badly Potter will fall apart with him _dead_ instead of simply suspended."

"He'll have Black and Lupin." She moaned when he reached up her shirt and ran his fingers over one of her breasts.

"Leave them to me," he murmured, reaching around to unclasp her bra. "You just worry about your mission. Can I trust you? Will you do it, for me?"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She would do anything for him. "Yes."

* * *

As Harry grew older and remembered this day, he had to say that even when he started his own family and when he was an old man and his children's children were having children that this was the biggest mood swing that he had ever witnessed. In an instant, Kim went from wanting to tear Malfoy's throat out to smiling shyly and looking unsure of herself. "You want to marry me?"

Malfoy paled as he felt Remus's eyes burning into him, but he held his ground. "Yes."

She bit her lip, still smiling. "Then you can when you get back."

"Okay." Harry couldn't tell if Malfoy looked ready to pass out because he was excited and nervous or because he realized what a big mistake he just made. For Kim's sake, he hoped it was the former. "I'll see you."

Malfoy left right after that. His mother was too stunned to say much, and Kim was ushered back upstairs to finish her exam. Harry couldn't help but think that they were both idiots. Just because they were having a baby didn't mean they should rush into marriage! They weren't even really on good terms right now!

Remus turned to Sirius once Kim was out of earshot. "You aren't going to let her, are you?"

Sirius stared at the wall, dumbstruck as if someone had just screamed in his face. "I… I don't know."

"She's fifteen, Sirius!" Remus hissed. "Baby or no, she's too young to get married."

"This whole thing is a mess, Moony," Sirius muttered. "I don't want to argue with her when she needs us right now.

* * *

About an hour later, Harry found Kim in the room with the Black family tapestry, staring at her name with the thin line coming out of it. "Apparently it shows up on the maternal line later than the paternal line, so's not to shame unwed mothers like a hundred years ago or something when it was a big deal, I suppose."

"Exactly. It's not a big deal now." Harry noted that her cheeks were stained with fresh tears. "You shouldn't marry the git right after separating from him."

A small smile touched Kim's lips. "I know. But for some reason, I really want to."

Harry gritted his teeth. They were both idiots and out of the minds! "The reason is you're afraid he's going to leave, which is stupid because he wants the baby more than you."

Kim glared at the ceiling. "No one wants the baby, Harry."

"Then maybe you should stop being selfish and give it to a family that does," he yelled with annoyance. It wasn't like they couldn't find a safe home for the baby. A home with a mother who was actually happy for its existence. "No one is forcing you to keep it. Trust me, you'll treat it like shit because of something that was Malfoy's fault."

Kim froze, turning white as snow. "I-I will not!"

Harry felt his face heat up with frustration. "How can you love something properly that you resent for existing? The Dursley's—"

"Don't you compare me to the Dursleys!" Kim turned to him and screamed. "I'll love this baby!"

"Really?" Harry laughed without humor. "You were enraged at the sight of it. There are plenty of good people out there who would do anything to have what you have."

Kim's eyes filled with hurt, and she shook slightly. "That wasn't what upset me. Not exactly."

"Then what was it?" Harry asked darkly. "I seriously doubt that you were ready to kill Malfoy over your blood work."

"I got scared!" Kim turned a sickly green color at the memory. "Something unexpected came up! I went from overwhelmed to in meltdown mode!"

Harry felt his heart flutter a little nervously. "Is something wrong with the baby?"

Kim shook her head, feeling like her heart was in her throat. "No. I don't want to talk about it."

She could tell that Harry didn't believe her but wasn't ready to talk about it yet. "Fine," he said, sounding irritated once more. "Just make sure you do the right thing. You know that it's a terrible feeling, to be unwanted."

* * *

Remus found Harry in his room the next day, cleaning his Firebolt and trying to get it ready for Quidditch this year. He couldn't help but be strongly reminded of James at the look of content concentration on his face.

"Kim told me to ground you for life." There was laughter in Remus's voice when Harry jumped, not knowing he was there. "She wouldn't tell me why though."

"She's just being a baby as usual," Harry mumbled, trying to continue cleaning his broom and not look like something was bothering him.

"I see." He actually knew exactly what Kim was talking about, since Sirius had taken to spying and using Fred and George's Extendable Ears every chance he got. "How are you doing by the way? I'm glad to see you aren't as angry as you were the other week."

Harry shrugged, eyes on his broom even though they looked like they were looking a million miles away. "Because Malfoy is trying, and she isn't."

Remus nodded slowly and then sat on his bed next to him. "I know. She's depressed and used to everyone taking care of her, not having to take care of someone else."

"If she's not willing to get over that, then she shouldn't be a mother." Harry griped the handle of his broom tightly. "It's not fair to the baby."

"She's going to mess up," Remus stated bluntly, knowing that everyone was going to have to be patient with her for a while. "And she's going to have her moments. Eventually they will become less frequent. I can tell she cares, although it may be hard to see at times."

Harry frowned, thinking about how Aunt Petunia would make him walk home from school, even though she was picking up Dudley at the same time. She never thought anything she did was wrong until she was attacked by dementors. If Kim didn't care, she wouldn't be so upset, and she would want nothing to do with the baby. "I guess you're right." Harry allowed. "I was wrong to compare her to the Dursleys."

"Maybe not." Remus stretched and looked at the ceiling, not seeing the surprised look on Harry's face. "Maybe she needed a bit of a wakeup call. But don't worry about her. Worry about Quidditch and school and Luna."

"And Voldemort," Harry added a little bitterly.

Remus chuckled. Voldemort had been rather quiet lately, only making the Wizarding World more nervous. They were anxiously waiting in terror for something to happen. "Only during DA and Occlumency meetings. Even with the Prophecy, defeating Voldemort isn't entirely your responsibility."

"Tell that to him," Harry muttered. "He just sees everyone else as something to capture and dangle in front of my face."

Remus's eyes twinkled, remind Harry of Dumbledore. "I'll make sure to mention that next time we exchange letters."

Harry grinned. If only it were that simple. "Thanks, Remus."

Remus put an arm around his shoulder and hugged him sideways. "It's nothing. Everything will be alright as long as we stick together."

* * *

"We found out so why are you still here?" Sirius growled when he walked by Olivia's room to find her still in it. She was lying flat on her bed and throwing a tennis ball at the ceiling. "Hello?" he said loudly when she ignored him. "Your little prank worked or whatever you want to call it. She's pregnant, and we're all miserable. Congratulations. Now get out."

Olivia tossed the ball one more time before she spoke. "Remus took the Vow. I can stay until August if I please. And I'm staying."

"Why?" Sirius spat. He wished he could drag her out of the house by her hair. "Don't you miss Greyback? I'm sure he's pining after you every full moon."

"If he even recognizes me." Olivia sat up, blonde hair messy and to her chin today. "You're lucky that Remus is kind. Fenrir is going feral."

Sirius stared. Olivia always talked about Fenrir as if he were a god, but now, her pale blue eyes were filled with sadness. "Feral?"

"Lycanthropy is a disease." Olivia looked down at her hands in her lap. "The bloodlust… Consumption of human blood progresses the disease. He's slowly starting to think he's the wolf when he's human. He-he's biting and killing children even when the sun is up. He's even starting to look like the wolf."

"Is that…" Sirius gulped as he felt the color drain from his face. "Is that going to happen to Remus?"

Olivia's mouth quirked into a sad smile. "Probably right before he dies. Or a few months before. He's never tasted human blood, which is a rarity, so I'm not entirely sure. But I know Fenrir is going to be worse when I find him. As his mate, as mate of the leader of the pack, it's my duty to make sure he doesn't kill everyone. They're like our family. I…all my children died in infancy."

"You're going to kill him?" Sirius asked with horror. He could never do that to Remus, even if he wanted him too, and Sirius was sure that he would, if the wolf took over.

Olivia's watery eyes glared at his bluntness. "Yes. So you can see why I don't want to go back. Would you be rushing to smother Remus while he sleeps? I thought of poisoning him… I want him to go peacefully, but I don't have a wand…"

Sirius suddenly felt like his heart was thudding against his chest. "Is that the real reason why you refused to tell us about the ring? You were avoiding having to kill him."

"Perhaps." Olivia gritted her teeth. "He refuses Wolf's Bane. I don't even know if that would help, but he could still try."

"Don't tell Remus," Sirius pleaded. Remus would go nuts if he had to worry about this. Especially since there was going to be a defenseless infant in the house soon. "I don't care if you stay a decade, just don't tell Remus. If he ever thinks he's going feral…"

Olivia cocked her head to the side. "Oh I'm certain he would off himself. He has a self-loathing nature. I see it less when the kiddies are around, but it's definitely there." She bit her lip. "But I will leave in August. That was the deal, and I'll stick by it. Besides, people are being slaughtered because I'm avoiding this. Fenrir wasn't always like this." She giggled crazily as her eyes slightly lost focus. "Okay, maybe a little."

Sirius frowned. Olivia was definitely nuts. "Do you know why he bit Remus? Remus said it was over an argument with his dad."

Olivia blinked, trying to remember. It was so long ago, when her and Fenrir were first mated. "John Lupin…"

"Yes," Sirius said eagerly. "That's him."

When it dawned on her, Olivia smiled cruelly, making Sirius shiver and realize that she only had humanity when it came to Greyback. "Fenrir wanted to have his owls delivered to the Lupin house, so the Ministry wouldn't find them. Johnny Boy said no."

Sirius gaped, stunned and feeling as if someone threw ice water in his face. "Are you…are you saying that he bit Remus, leaving him sick and ostracized by society for life, all for the post?!"

Olivia shrugged. "There were a few werewolves in London we were trying to get to join us. We can't be near a city for long, obviously. So we needed a way to communicate with them, just to say when and where to meet, of course."

"Somehow that doesn't make it any better!" he spat, feeling like an idiot for feeling sorry for her a few minutes ago.

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "And what would have? No matter what I said, you would have been angry, Sirius. Fenrir bit people for less."

"He was a six year old boy!" Sirius roared. "He thought he heard a puppy crying outside and went to make sure it was okay!"

"Aw!" Olivia cooed as if they were talking about a little boy and not a man tortured with a disease. "So he was cute from the start!"

Sirius advanced towards her but then stopped, inches away from her face. "On August first, you're out of here. If not, if you are here one minute more, I'll kill you."

Olivia smirked. "You threaten to kill a lot of people, Sirius Black, but you never do it. Don't worry. I'll be gone before you know it."

* * *

Sirius was still furious when he found Kim an hour later, moping in her room. "Hey!"

Yelping, Kim sat up quickly. She stared at him fearfully, wondering if the old healer spilled the beans even though he promised not to. "Did Darwin talk to you?"

"No…" Sirius frowned at her obvious relief. Maybe Harry was on to something. "Should he have?"

Kim shook her head frantically. "Nope."

Sirius narrowed his eyes. She was sad but not hysterical. Well, not hysterical anymore. Something was wrong, but he wasn't sure what. If the baby was deathly ill, he was sure that Malfoy would have been just as upset as her a few hours ago. He was more shocked than anything else, so Sirius wasn't sure what was up, just that something was, and he was going to worry about it until he found out. "Alright. I actually wanted to talk to you about that little git's _proposal._"

"Oh." Kim smiled softly, which was as happy as Sirius had seen her since she woke up a few weeks ago. The other times he had seen her smile were strained, forced, and sometimes a little hysterical. He was surprised that she hadn't had a serious panic attack. "I didn't think he was going to. It made me happy."

Sirius looked at the ground. Remus wanted him to tell her that he couldn't let her get married because she was too young and overwhelmed right now. He really wished she would make it easier for him. "Why did it make you happy?"

Kim bit her lip, trying to find the right words. "Because…because I want us to still be together, and I still love him, but I was afraid that I pushed him away too much."

"That doesn't…" Sirius gritted his teeth. This was really hard. "Can't you have a long, two year engagement or something?"

"I-I don't know." Kim sat up and swung her legs off her bed. "What do you think?"

A thousand thoughts screamed in Sirius's head, trying to burst out of his mouth. _You're too young. You two shouldn't even be together for a while. You're overwhelmed enough as it is. Just because you're having a baby doesn't mean you need to get married!_ But instead, he said quietly, "I think you should do what makes you happy."

Kim stayed silent for a moment, biting her nails. Would getting married make her happy? For a little while it would. But whenever she was happy, she felt like she had this cloud of anxiety and misery hanging over her. It wasn't as big as it was nearly a week ago though. "I want to…I want to get married." She wasn't sure if her words were entirely true, but they felt right, once she said them.

"Well…" Sirius swallowed back tears. He was hoping she would agree that she should wait. He didn't have it in him to upset her. "Then I want you to know that no matter what happens, that you are our daughter. And if that git pulls any shit like this again, and you want to leave him that I'll hex him black and blue and you can go back to sharing a room with Ginny and Hermione while he's on night duty with a screaming baby."

Kim gave him a watery smile. "Thanks Sirius."

* * *

Lucius shivered against the rock he was trying to sleep on. He had never been so cold in his entire life. When the dementors weren't making him relive his worst memories, he could hear the Death Eaters whispering about murdering Narcissa. He had nightmares about the day his daughter was born too early and died that night and relived torturing Kimberly during the day whenever the dementors visited him. Her earsplitting screams gave him a headache.

"Need a blanket?" he heard a young man mutter as he threw something at him. Lucius opened his eyes to see Calvin Pendragon had tossed an invisibility cloak at him. "You're lucky you're a worthless pawn."

"Excuse me?" Lucius dared to ask as he clutched the invisibility cloak as if his life depended on it.

Calvin ignored him and threw him an old shoe. "The wards are going to drop for Cedric in three, two, one."

Lucius didn't even have time to ask before he heard a loud crashing sound and felt a tug at his navel. He blinked and found himself in an alley in Hogsmeade. Feeling ready to pass out with pure joy, Lucius threw the invisibility cloak on him and apparated to the Manor. He had no idea why the Order would break him out after what he did to Kimberly, but he was grateful. It was only a matter of time before he died in Azkaban. Now all he had to do was find his wife. Then he could retrieve his son, and they could be a family again.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	2. Familial Love

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: I forgot to mention that I named this fic after a song by Eminen featuring Sia. I picked it for Pansy's character development as well as Kim's.**

Chapter 2

A few days after Draco left, when everyone else was off breaking out Cedric, and Sirius was pacing by the fireplace waiting for their safe return, Remus found Kim alone in her room, packing away her clothes that didn't fit anymore. He smiled as she held up a tank top and glared at it, tossing it in the box. "Molly making you do that?"

Kim jumped and spun around. "She told Bill to tell Fleur to take me to France with Ginny tomorrow for new clothes! Tell her that I'm grounded for running away and can't go!"

"Perhaps the shopping trip is part of your punishment." He folded his arms and leaned on her doorframe. "Are you going to pick out a dress?"

"Maybe." Kim bit her lip. "But it might not fit by the time…"

"I don't want you getting married." Remus said bluntly, sighing sadly when she tensed and looked hurt. "I just don't think either of you are getting married for the right reasons. You want to get married to make sure he stays around, and you worry that he doesn't love you anymore. He's trying to ease your fears and is doing it for the baby."

Kim nervously played with the flap of the cardboard box. "I know. But we have to."

"You shouldn't get married because you have to!" Remus yelled, shoulders slumping when her eyes filled with tears. "It should be because you want to," he said softly. "I want you to be able to invite all your friends and laugh as Fred and George pull some silly prank. I want to walk you down the aisle while you have a big smile on your face. I want…" He shook his head, unable to continue.

Sighing sadly, Kim walked over to Remus and hugged him. "Don't cry, Remus. You can. There can always be a wedding, part two."

Remus let out a watery laugh and kissed the top of her head. "There shouldn't have to be," he insisted.

Kim pulled away and smiled, looking up at him. "Two is better than one!" Her face fell at her own choice of words. She turned away and walked back towards the box. "And since Draco bailed on me, we get to pick the cake! None of that vanilla crap."

Remus was quiet for a moment, wishing that he could do something to make everything alright again. "It won't make you sick?" She almost hadn't made it to the bathroom last night when Molly had brought out pudding.

Kim wrinkled her nose. "I won't let it! I've got two weeks to prepare myself! It's all about positive thinking!" She turned and smiled at him. "That's what Ginny told me the other day. But I'm not sure if she was talking about cake…You never know with that silly girl. For all I know, the nausea thing might be all in my head."

"Oh, I'm sure." Remus chuckled. "Speaking of all in one's head. Sirius got sick yesterday morning. And he's gained a few pounds. And won't stop eating carrots."

Kim frowned, expression a little disgusted. "Remus. I think Sirius needs to see healer. Like a mind healer. Because he doesn't have the right parts, and he's going to be pretty disappointed when—"

"No! No!" Remus waved his hands and laughed harder. "He doesn't think…He hasn't even noticed. It's called sympathy pains. It's usually only with the expectant father but…well, you know how melodramatic Sirius can be."

Kim stared like she didn't believe him. "I still think he needs professional help."

Remus grinned. "You and so many others. He doesn't and won't think that he's pregnant. He's just subconsciously sympathizing with you."

Kim frowned. That is really weird… But suddenly she perked up, excited about Sirius's plight. She ran her hands over her belly, feeling awkward once she realized she did it. She was starting to feel rather fat… "Does that mean he'll get as big as me?!" she squeaked with pure joy.

"I sure hope not." Remus snickered at the thought of poor Sirius. She was going to tease him mercilessly. "It should go away soon."

Kim pouted, resisting saying _Lucky!_ because she knew it would only make Remus sad again. "Maybe I'll get him a new shirt tomorrow."

"I'm sure he would love that," Remus said dryly as she stared at him expectantly. He rolled his eyes. "Yes, you can go tell him."

Giggling, Kim raced down past him, screaming, "Sirius! Sirius! I have wonderful news for you!"

Sirius looked up from the chess match he was having with Ron. "What now? Did Snape meet untimely end?"

Kim blinked. "What a terrible thing to say!"

Harry looked up from the Occlumency book he was skimming. "Yeah. He's nice enough to be your teacher. All summer."

"Don't remind me," Kim muttered. Snape taught Draco during the day and her at night. He gave so much homework! She bounced in place slightly, excited that Sirius had no idea what she was about to say. "Remus told me of your condition!"

"Wait." Harry snapped his book shut, preparing to leave. "Is this anything gross?"

"No, you pervert!" She wrinkled her nose cutely and sang, "Sirius is pregnant!"

Sirius stared and then burst out laughing. "Nice try, kiddo. But you're going to have to do better than that."

Kim giggled and rolled her eyes. "Not for real, you dummy! Remus told me it's called sympathy pains."

Harry raised his eyebrows while Sirius groaned. "What?"

Kim pointed at Sirius and wagged her finger at him, listing his symptoms. "He's getting sick and gaining weight and shares my love of carrots. Who knows what he'll do next!"

"Not again," Sirius moaned and then shouted up the stairs, "Thanks for telling her, Moony! It's good to know I can trust you!"

"Again?" Ron asked incredulously, wondering if this happened all the time. Sirius _was_ a weird bloke.

Sirius growled with frustration. "It happened with Lily. James wouldn't stop laughing at me."

"Really?!" Kim wondered if she would ever stop laughing at Sirius herself. Harry shook his head and laughed silently. It had been a while since she had it in her to properly tease Sirius. "What's going to happen next? Will you get over emotional and cry like I did when Ron spilled milk on my favorite coat?"

"It was an accident!" Ron repeated for the millionth time. "Maybe you shouldn't leave your stuff everywhere!"

Kim glared at him, telling him that their fight over that wasn't over. But then she brightened up once more and started bugging Sirius again. "Are you gonna need new clothes? Will you waddle and—"

"It won't go that far!" Sirius whined. He was going to throttle a certain werewolf. "It'll go away in a few weeks or days or whatever. Maybe if you stopped being so sad all the time, I wouldn't feel so bad!" He winced as soon as the words tumbled out of his mouth. As predicted, Kim's face fell and her demeanor dropped immediately. "I, ah, didn't mean it like that."

Harry hissed in sympathy. "I'll make sure Padfoot is written on your tombstone, mate."

But instead of screaming, Kim folded her arms and looked away. "It's fine."

"No, it's not fine." Sirius looked at Harry, who shrugged and jerked his head towards the nearest door, telling him to run. "What's wrong with the baby anyway?"

Kim blinked, looking confused. "There's nothing wrong. Why would you say that?"

Sirius threw his hands in the air, and Ron took Harry's advice and headed out before things could get ugly. "You were starting to feel better until that ultrasound. And you had a fit in the middle of your exam and have been sulking since."

Kim looked at the ceiling. She didn't want to talk about that. And Darwin promised not to tell since she finished her examination right after Draco left. "Everything's fine."

"Then why are you shaking?" Harry asked, hoping that she wouldn't get too upset with Sirius. He was only trying to help. "You don't have to be afraid to tell us."

_Yes I do!_ Kim screamed in her head, even though she mumbled, "I know."

"So…" Sirius drummed his fingers on the chess set. "Why were you so upset?"

Kim's eyes flashed. She didn't have to tell him if she didn't want to. "Unlike you, Sirius, my pregnancy is real. It isn't always fun, so just drop it." And with that, she stomped off.

Sirius shared a look with Harry once she was gone. "This is all Remus's fault."

"She's lying," Harry said, having no idea what was bothering her. Was the baby sick? What if it was born sick and didn't make it? Malfoy told him that happened in his family often enough. Maybe that was why she didn't want to say anything. Even if she didn't want the baby, Harry was sure that she didn't want it to die, once she got used to it.

"I hope not," Sirius murmured fearfully. He was actually started to get used to the idea of having a baby around the house. It wasn't the end of the world, even though he would've said just the opposite about a week ago. He definitely didn't want something to happen to it.

* * *

Lucius apparated to the Manor as soon as the porkey took him to Hogsmeade. He had to plan Narcissa's escape. He thought she was still locked up in Lestrange Manor and hoped she was okay. Therefore, he was pleasantly surprised when he heard her voice in the parlor.

He stopped at the door to listen with a smile slowly spreading on his face. He finally had his family back. "You see, the trick is to support the head," she whispered, confusing him. "It's not that hard once you do that. And be careful of the soft spot."

The door was crack, and he could see his son…with a baby doll. Not sure what think, he ripped open the door and said, "What the hell?!"

Narcissa yelped and jumped up from the sofa where she was sitting with her son. She covered her mouth with her hands and gasped, "Lucius! H-how?"

Lucius noted how pale his son looked at the sight of him as Narcissa ran over to him and flung her arms around him. "The brown haired boy threw an invisibility cloak on me, broke the wards, and gave me a portkey as they were breaking out the Diggory boy."

"Why…" Narcissa was ready to faint with happiness. As far as she knew, Dumbledore had no intention of breaking Lucius out. "They weren't…"

"I don't know." Lucius's eyes flickered over to his son. "What are you doing, Draco?"

Draco gaped like a fish, wishing he had the slightest warning. He knew he must look like an idiot as he cradled the doll in his arms. "Uh…"

"Never mind that, Lucius," Narcissa fretted. "Let's get you fed and—"

"Merlin!" Draco nearly dropped the doll, realizing why his father was home. "She really is an evil genius."

Narcissa stared with a strained smile on her face. Maybe Lucius should rest before they told him… "What is it, sweetheart?"

Draco placed the doll in the seat next to him, ignoring his father staring at it. "She asked me the night before I left if you hated her. Then I saw her talking to Calvin. And now, Dad's out of prison."

Narcissa stared for a second before smiling softly. "She should have been in Slytherin."

Lucius scowled. When he heard his wife's voice, he thought everything was going to be alright. Now, he wasn't so sure. "Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?" he snapped.

Draco flinched, and Narcissa smoothed his hair to try to comfort him. His eyes were filled with fear when they met his father's. "Kim's…I…She's pregnant."

* * *

Kim hummed to herself at dinner as she cut her steak, trying not to notice that Remus was staring at her like she was in trouble and that Sirius was still feeling guilty about their little spat earlier today. She smiled at Harry. "Luna wants to know what you want for your birthday."

"Er…" Harry wanted to kick her in the shins. She didn't mean it, but she was making Ginny jealous. The youngest Weasley froze but then continued eating as if nothing happened. He still cared about Luna a lot and hoped that Ginny wouldn't make her uncomfortable when she came over. "Tell her anything's fine."

Kim stabbed her fork into her string beans. "If you don't tell me, I'll tell her that you want edible underwear."

Ginny snorted, making Harry relax slightly with relief. "Tell her Quidditch stuff. I'll get him the underwear." Harry's relief quickly disappeared as he thought about crawling under the nearest rock. "Maybe they'll have treacle tart flavor."

"Ginevra Weasley!" Mrs. Weasley looked ready to faint at the daughter's words as Harry started turning redder and redder with embarrassment.

"It's a joke, Mum!" Ginny groaned as she flushed, realizing that even though it was only a joke, she was the wrong person to make it..

Luckily, Remus saved Ginny but only to get Kim in trouble when he changed the subject. "Strangest thing." He shook his head, feigning confusion. "I got a rather angry letter from the floo today. From Lucius Malfoy. I don't remember Azkaban being connected to our floo."

Kim's eyes widened in an attempt to look surprised as she took a quick bite from her fork. "Really? I didn't know Azkaban had floo."

Harry frowned, catching on. "If they did, I think Sirius would have sent Ron a little letter about 'Scabbers' instead of hunting us down like a maniac."

"Oi!" Sirius was preparing to defend himself with his Man On the Run speech when the pieces clicked together in his head. "Damn it Kim! Is that why Calvin didn't want to stay for dinner? Malfoy almost killed you!"

"Narcissa doesn't like me!" she whined. "I want her to like me again."

Harry's mouth twitched into a smile. "Maybe you should have tried to apologize instead ordering someone to break her Death Eater husband out of prison."

Kim pouted. "The second one was easier."

"Really?" Remus smiled evilly at her. "Because he wants to talk to you."

"Why?" Kim fumbled with her fork, making Harry snicker. "Tell him that I can't because I'm grounded!"

"Tell him he can't because he's a piece of shit, who nearly killed her!" Sirius snapped.

Remus shook his head and smiled to himself as if they were being cute. "He will be here in an hour."

"But I don't want to talk to him!" Kim whined. "He's mean!"

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you broke him out of prison." Remus honestly didn't want Lucius within ten feet of her, but he was tired of her acting rashly. Besides, Lucius wouldn't do anything that would risk his relationship with his son.

* * *

Kim wasn't really sure what to expect an hour later when Lucius showed up. If anything, she was more afraid of his rejection than Narcissa's. _Maybe because he never liked me in the first place,_ she grumbled to herself. She probably should have thought of that before she asked her brother to break him out of jail.

"Hi," she said shyly, wincing at how squeaky her voice sounded. He was all cleaned up for someone who just came back from the worst place on earth, although his clothes hung loosely on him. He sat regally with perfect posture and his chin held up high.

Lucius nodded in acknowledgement, surprised that Lupin was able to keep Black from ripping him limb from limb. "Kimberly."

Kim sat across from him slowly, waiting for him to start yelling at her. Now she wished she hadn't let Remus lock Sirius in the library. He would scare Lucius off. And of course he was staring. No one at Grimmauld stared and went out of their way to not look at her stomach area since they knew how upset she was. Kim picked at a thread on her skirt, eyes downcast. "So…"

"So you thought my release would make up for how you treated my son," Lucius hissed. "You will apologize."

Kim gaped for a split second. "He-he…" Her face heated up with shame, and she hung her head. "Yeah…I will."

Lucius's stern expression softened, but only slightly. He had expected her to become indignant and refuse. "It is unfortunate that his foolish mistake changed your lives forever."

Kim nodded, not trusting herself to respond to that. Instead, she opted to say, "We'll be alright."

Lucius snorted and shook his head. "I'm sure you'll be saying that at three in the morning after not sleeping for several months."

"What do you expect me to say?" Kim nearly yelled, wishing Azkaban had mellowed Lucius out at least a little. "If I sulk, you'll call me immature. If I act like everything's great, you'll say my head's in the clouds! There's nothing I can say to gain your approval! And I was responsible, and it still happened! What do you want me to do?!"

"You're right." Lucius's eyes were cold, like shards of ice. "And it doesn't help that I don't like you. You are immature, loud, impolite, and not to mention a half blood. And by January, you will not only be my son's _wife_," he spat the word as if it were the foulest of swears. "You also will be the mother of my grandchild. There's nothing you can do."

Kim laughed to try to cover up the fact that she was ready to cry. "I don't like you either, Lucy. You're a bigot with a broom so far up his ass that you can't see past blood. You think that you're sly, that you can get away with anything as long as you know when to be a bully and when to be someone's little bitch. I don't know what you are trying to intimidate me into doing, but it's not working."

Lucius felt his jaw drop. Narcissa was wrong. She was way too brave to be a Slytherin. He was actually hoping to scare her into respecting him. Cleary that wasn't going to work. "Kimberly—"

"Save your bullshit for someone who thinks you're worth fearing," Kim said coldly. "There's nothing I can do to get you to like me. I mean, I looked over the fact that you tortured me, nearly killing me and my ba-baby, and made sure you got out of prison. It doesn't matter the reason, either way, you aren't making out with the dementors right now like you should be. You owe me."

Lucius glared at her, thinking that she was going to be a major part of his life for the rest of it. "What do you want?"

"I want…" Kim froze as her eyes filled with tears. Why'd she have to have a mood swing when she was trying to be a brave badass? "I want you to stop being so mean!" she wailed. Before he could respond, she jumped out of her seat and ran off, leaving him dumbstruck in his seat.

* * *

"Sirius?" Harry found his godfather in the library with his face pressed against the floor. "I guess Remus was right when he said that you need to get out of the house again."

Scowling, Sirius sat up, and Harry had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. He was trying to listen in on Kim's and Lucius's conversation through the air vents. He had red lines on his cheek from the vents and had an Extendable Ear dangling from his ear. "I can hear every word that bastard is saying!"

"Did you expect it to be anything nice?" Harry smiled. "There's a reason why you were placed on lockdown. Remus said to distract you by asking you to take me to Diagon Alley for my school stuff tomorrow."

Sirius frowned. "After the wedding," he said stubbornly.

Harry rolled his eyes, wondering how long it was going to be before Sirius did something stupid. "If you say so. But you are literally going crazy."

"Why Remus have to tell her about the sympathy pains?" Sirius groaned. Now that he thought about it, he was feeling sick all the time…

Harry shrugged. "Dumbledore said he wanted to talk to me the day after the wedding. Do you want to take me after Diagon Alley?"

"I'm not going crazy." Sirius pouted but then tried to smile. "But I will. Looks like you're having a crumby summer, kiddo."

"Still loads better than the Dursleys," Harry insisted. Then he thinned his lips at the thought of his other relatives. "Should we tell them? I-I don't want them around or anything, but I'm sure Aunt Petunia will want to know…"

Sirius barked out a laugh. "Petunia Dursley wants to know everything about everybody. Dumbledore wants as few people to know as possible. She may act like she cares, but as far as I'm concerned, Petunia can stuff it."

"Er, alright." Harry was surprised by the fact that he didn't really care too much either. He just felt like he _should_ let Aunt Petunia know she was going to be a great aunt. "If I ever see her again, I'll make sure to pass on the message."

Sniggering, Sirius ruffled Harry's already messy hair. "No you won't. You're too much of a good kid. If only I had gotten my hands on you sooner…It's a shame, really."

A little embarrassed, Harry ran his hands through his hair, a small smile touching his lips when he joked, "I'll be sure to tell Malfoy that when you're holding his defenseless, innocent baby. The kid'll be a terror."

"Don't you mean your brother-in-law?" Sirius teased as Harry grimaced. "But I mean it, you're a good kid, Harry. Even after the Department of Mysteries."

"I…" Harry felt his mouth dry up. That was still one of his biggest regrets, even though he was able to save Ginny. "I'm sorry about that. I—"

Sirius held up his hands. "No need. We all mess up when we're scared. I mean, look what happened with me and Peter. I just want you to know that I love you…and I promise to keep my mirror on me at all times."

Harry felt his heart swell with happiness. "I love you too…and I promise not to believe someone possessed by Voldemort again."

Chuckling, Sirius walked over and hugged him tightly. "You better."

* * *

"Do I have to Mrs. Weasley?" Kim whined the next day. "I think I've got at least a few weeks with my clothes. All the snooty French ladies will start at me because I'm so young!"

Hand on one hip, Mrs. Weasley waved a spatula in her direction. "You will be lucky if your clothes last you until the end of next week," she chided. She softened when Kim's lip quivered. "Don't look so surprised, deary. You're growing rather quickly."

Kim tensed and looked at her nearly empty plate. "Yeah, I know. Fine, I'll get ready."

Fred and George watched her with fascination as she scrambled away. "Are you saying…"

"That all we have to do…"

"Is look sad, and we'll get out of a lecture?" Fred tapped his chin. "Sounds like a smashing idea, doesn't it Georgie?"

George nodded. "Why yes, Freddie. We better practice crying on command."

"Fred! George!" Mrs. Weasley yelled in exasperation as Ron and Harry snickered at the twins getting in trouble as usual. Harry wondered how bored Mrs. Weasley would be without them.

* * *

Draco was surprised that it took him a week and a half to start missing Kim. He was hurt that she didn't once write to him, but then again, he didn't have the courage to write to her either. His father said nothing about his conversation with Kim, but for the first time ever, Draco saw a guilty expression on his father's face, so he took it as a bad sign. He just hoped she was at least a little happier now.

During his break, when he wasn't drowning in the massive amount of work that Severus gave him, his mum taught him how to do things like hold a baby or change a diaper. He read medical textbooks until his eyes burned, which was a mistake, since all the possible illnesses gave him nightmares. He would have to make sure to leave the pregnancy textbooks at home…

On the morning he was to floo back, Black sent him a howler threatening to hunt him down until the ends of the earth if his family expanded anymore before the year 2000. Draco rolled his eyes and tried not to let it scare him. His mum would hex Black before he even needed to run. Still, he couldn't help but be nervous as he yelled into the floo, "Grimmauld Place, Number 12!"

Before the green flames even died down, Kim yanked on his arm and dragged him up stairs. She locked the door to Black's father's office and put up silencing charms. Draco sighed. There were dark circles under her eyes, which were already near tears. "Hello."

"I told no one," she whispered, shaking slightly.

Draco didn't know whether she would be alright with him hugging her or not. _If you aren't sure, then you shouldn't marry her tomorrow,_ a lecturing, Severus-like voice said in his head. "I didn't either."

Kim whimpered. "I don't know what to do! I'm sorry! I was a real jerk to you and… This is all too much to handle."

"I know." Draco looked down and then felt his eyes widened slightly. It was really obvious that she was pregnant now. He hadn't even been gone two weeks! Before he could really react, Black busted through the door, looking suspicious.

"What's up with the silencing charms?" he demanded.

Kim wiped her eyes. "I put them up, Sirius. I need to talk to him. Can you please give us a couple minutes?"

"No." Sirius glared at Draco. "What's wrong with the baby?"

Draco froze and turned to Kim. "N-nothing. Right?"

Kim bit her lip and put her hands behind her back, teetering slightly. Sirius was the last person she wanted to tell. "No. You know what it is."

"Are you two kidding me right now?" Sirius snapped, advancing towards Draco. "I care about this baby too. We all do, so—"

"The baby isn't sick," Draco muttered, feeling his heart thud against his ribcage at the thought. "We aren't ready to talk about it right now."

Sirius threw his hands up in the air. "Oh, well that makes me feel _so_ much better." He jabbed a finger at Draco's chest. "I don't care if you're married or not. You two are not allowed to be alone together."

"Sirius," Kim began.

"Don't start or I won't sign the stupid contract allowing you to marry the git." These two kids were driving Sirius crazy. Harry was right. He really needed to get out of the house. "I don't know what you're hiding, but I think both of you have a lot of nerve. Everyone is worried sick. You have no reason to hide this from us."

"I'm…" Kim covered her mouth with her hands, too nervous to continue. "…going to go lay down."

Draco would've yelled at her as she scurried away if he didn't know what she was so worried about. He didn't really want anyone to know yet either. Still, she shouldn't have left him alone with Black. "Listen, Black. Nothing's wrong and—"

"If nothing's wrong, then why are you both acting so jumpy?" Black glared at Draco, but for once, didn't look ready to strangle him. Instead, he only looked disappointed. "You know what? Forget it. Go ahead and deal with it on your own."

"We are going to tell you! We just need to figure out how!" Draco called after him as Black stormed off and slammed the door behind him.

Sirius was so annoyed with those two that when he found Lucius and Narcissa in the dining room, he nearly turned around to go sulk in his room. But, Lucius being Lucius, opted to rile him up further. He even had the nerve to smile at him. "Ah, there you are Black. I was hoping you would sign the marriage contract. I drew it up this morning, and since Kimberly is a minor..."

Sirius smiled crazily. "Oh, splendid!" he said with false cheer. "The highlight of my day!"

Narcissa tried to smile politely, hoping that Sirius could at least keep the peace for a little while. "Lucius wrote it himself. No annulment is allowed but divorce is after the baby is born. Although, I hope that will not be necessary."

Sirius laughed bitterly as he signed it, too ticked off to bother to read it. "Oh no. They are thick as thieves again with their little secrets, Cissy! Nothing to worry about."

"What are you talking about, Sirius?" Narcissa asked, but Sirius was already heading off to sulk and worry.

* * *

Remus wanted to confront Kim about her conversation with Sirius the next day but couldn't find it in him to do it. She actually looked excited as Molly told her it was time to put on her dress, and there wasn't a tenseness about the house for the first time in weeks. He could always talk to her tomorrow.

As a result, Sirius was literally worried sick and wouldn't get out of bed until near noon and that wasn't until Darwin stopped in and assured him that the baby was perfectly healthy. Remus could tell that Sirius didn't entirely believe him since he was still quiet. He glared at the animagus as he threw dress robes at him. "Be nice today, Sirius. This is one of the most important days of her life."

"She's too young to get married, Remus," Sirius groused.

Remus sighed, wondering if it would be considered immoral if he spiked Sirius's drink with a Pepper Up Potion. "You should have thought of that before you signed the contract, Padfoot. And if this is going to make her happy, try not to ruin it for her. She's having a tough enough time as it is."

"Whatever." Sirius glared at his dress robes as if it were their fault that he had to wear them today.

"And you are taking everyone else to shopping tomorrow," Remus informed him. "All the other kids, especially Harry, need a break from all this as well as you. Have fun with them and forget about the baby for the day."

Sirius gritted his teeth. "And then Dumbledore wants to see Harry."

"Good." Remus smiled. "It'll give you something else to worry about."

"Ha ha ha, Moony." Sirius cursed as he hastily started getting dressed. "That old coot better not want him to already start getting involved with the war."

Remus straightened his tie in the mirror, trying not to laugh. "You can yell at him about it tomorrow, love. Until then, you have a wedding to attend."

* * *

Kim felt a little giddy with excitement and nerves as she started getting ready with Ginny and Hermione (who flooed in for the day). Her conversation with Remus about getting married for the wrong reasons the other week was pushed into the back of her mind. She knew he was right, and the thought made her a little sad, but she really did want to marry Draco, even if it was a little sooner than she had originally planned.

She was almost ready when Sylvia and Agatha swooped in, making Kim give Hermione and Ginny a look that practically screamed, _Please help me!_ Unfortunately, they only smiled and didn't save her as Sylvia swooped in, instantly cooing. "Aw!" She put a hand on her belly. Kim scowled and had to resist slapping her away. "You look so cute!"

Agatha leaned in the doorway and smirked. "Cute? How about old fashioned, Sylvia? Who gets married because they're pregnant anymore?"

"Me!" Kim glared at her but didn't really have the heart to take offense. "Now get this crazy blonde off of me!"

Laughing, Agatha grabbed Sylvia by her shoulders and roughly yanked her away. "Fine, fine. Oh and I'm not old like Remus. My sense of smell is even better than his. I can smell your little secret!" She smirked as Kim paled. "Don't worry, I won't tell."

Sylvia frowned. If there was a secret, she wanted in on it. "What secret?!"

Ginny looked up from the mirror as she finished putting on her earrings. "Whatever it is, it's driving Sirius mad."

Kim's eyes became distant. "It's nothing." The fear in her voice said just the opposite.

Agatha rolled her eyes. "Oh it's something alright." She turned to Hermione, dropping the subject and going into bossy mode. "Hand me that vase. I want flowers in her hair."

"Why?" Kim whined. Her hair was in a simple bun with a few curls falling out, and she just wanted to go downstairs and get married already.

"Because that dress is too simple. Everything is too simple." Agatha stared her down until she sat on her bed. "The silk is nice, but—"

"But those white flowers were supposed to be my bouquet!" Kim complained as Agatha arranged the flowers in her hair, and Sylvia charmed them to stay in place. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

"Cole brought you orange lilies," Agatha informed her, telling Kim that this was her plan all along. "That's what you get for not letting me help you plan the wedding."

"And throw them to me!" Sylvia said excitedly. "I want to tease Percy with them!"

Kim pouted. "This is why I didn't ask for either of your help!"

* * *

Draco wasn't sure what made him more nervous as he waited for Kim, the fact that he was getting married or that the closest people to him in the parlor were her brothers. All the furniture was cleared out of the parlor and the room was quickly filled with her friends and family. It kind of bothered him that Blaise and Pansy weren't there and didn't even know what was going on, but he figured he would have to talk to Severus about that.

Cole, who Draco thought was the weirdest of them all, leaned past Calvin and whispered, "I picked the flowers."

Draco nodding with wide eyes, thinking that the guy was a lunatic. There were no flowers in sight. "Good for you."

"I picked orange to match her hair," he continued to whisper excitedly. "I'm hoping that the baby will have lighter hair like Ron's since you have blonde hair and all." Draco felt his face drop with horror as Potter silently shook with laughter beside him. Before he could comment, Kim came down the stairs with Remus.

* * *

Kim was kind of disappointed that Sirius didn't want to walk her down the aisle, well living room, with Remus, but was too busy trying not to laugh at her bouquet to really worry about it. It was huge and obnoxious, totally hiding the fact that she was pregnant. She could barely hold it with two hands and had a big smile on her face at the ridiculousness of it.

But Kim was serious once again once she reached Draco but wasn't really listening to Dumbledore as he married them and stumbled a bit over her vows. She and Draco mostly stared at each other, silently reassuring themselves and each other that they weren't making a mistake. She smiled into his lips when they kissed.

She heard Lee wolf whistle and a few others follow suit when Draco wrapped his arms around her waist, but to her delight, Sirius didn't growl, and no one said anything mean. When she opened her eyes, she saw him pouting in his chair out of the corner of her eye but could see he was trying not to look too miserable. She smiled at him and his eyes became a bit less sulky looking.

* * *

They ate dinner shortly after that because Mrs. Weasley demanded that they eat before the food got cold. Kim giggled as Draco scowled at the cake. "You should've been here to pick everything out!"

"I assumed you would go with the white theme." He was more bothered by the fact that it wasn't traditional than anything else. She picked out chocolate cake with strawberry icing. "And I thought you were sick of strawberries."

Kim held up her pumpkin juice glass as if she were giving a toast. "Only strawberry milk!"

Draco shook his head and smiled. "I suppose that's what I deserve, since I didn't ask anything about the planning."

Kim took a fork full of cake and gently mashed it on the tip of his nose. "Yuppers. You're lucky things went this smoothly."

"Merlin!" Draco grabbed a napkin immediately. "You better not pass on those manners." Kim started laughing until Sirius spoke.

"Will you even be able to pass it on?" Sirius said darkly, only getting frustrated when Kim and Draco looked confused. "What's wrong with the baby?" he demanded, causing the table to become silent.

"Sirius," Remus warned tiredly. Kim was so happy today. Why'd he have to go and ruin it?

"I…" Kim looked at Draco fearfully, who sighed and nodded.

Grabbing her hand, Draco looked Sirius dead in the eye and said, "We're having twins."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I wanted to leave Kim's dress up to everyone's imagination. In my head, it's more of a skirt than a dress, stopping just passed her knees, and is silk. And as Agatha said, simple. Please review!**


	3. Separation

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 3

Kim expected Sirius to be mad. That's why she was so afraid to tell him and everyone else. But a tiny part of her was hoping that he wouldn't overreact with this like he did with everything else. Unfortunately, Remus (and the rest of the table) was too shell-shocked to stop him. He jumped out of his seat and yelled at Draco, "Get out!"

Draco froze, not sure if making any sudden movements was the best idea. To his surprise, Potter tried to defend him. "Uh, Sirius. Believe it or not, Malfoy couldn't have possibly had any control over this," he said shakily.

"Oh really? But he could control stealing from his mother!" Sirius snarled, making Draco glad that there was a table between them. "And he could control keeping it in his pants. And—"

"If he goes, I go," Kim whispered, wishing Remus would say something to make everything alright like he normally does. But her words only seemed to stun him further.

Sirius stared and then rolled his eyes. "Believe it or not, running away is a crime. You are a child! I should have never let you get married—"

"Then stop it!" Kim yelped when her magic caused several glasses to break in front of her. Why couldn't Sirius just take a little walk or something? She covered her eyes so glass wouldn't fly in them. "You're blowing it way out of proportion!"

"Out of proportion? Fine! Go!" he spat. "Have your _honeymoon_ at Malfoy Manor for all I care."

Kim stared at him with wide, wounded eyes until Draco pulled on her arm. "C'mon. I'll help you pack." He sounded tired and sad.

Shaking with the effort not to cry, Kim slightly obeyed, and no one said a word until they left were gone. She didn't pack much, hoping that she would be home by tomorrow morning.

"What was that?" Remus snapped.

"I'm calling the Ministry tomorrow." Sirius clenched his fists. "I shouldn't have listened to her. Why the hell did I sign that contract?"

"Why the hell did you throw a fit like that?" Remus yelled, wanting to hit him. "You had no right to throw either one of them out of the house."

"I didn't throw her out." But Sirius winced, already starting to feel guilty. "That's why I'm calling the Ministry. I'll tell them that she ran away and that Lucius is in the house. The Ministry will break down the wards and bring her home."

"Wasn't the whole point of having the wedding here to hide this from the Ministry and everyone else?" Harry asked, starting to get angry with Sirius himself. "It's too dangerous. What if she never comes back?"

"She'll come back," Sirius insisted. "She has no choice. I have custody of her—"

"Not anymore," Lucius informed him, glad that he had chosen to stay behind. He wouldn't have Black bully his son any longer.

Sirius froze, feeling the color drain from his face. "Excuse me?"

"Read something before you sign it, Black." Lucius sneered at him. "She and Draco are minors. When you signed the marriage contract, you signed custody over to Narcissa and me. She will not be returning anytime soon."

Remus robotically turned his head away from Lucius back to Sirius. "You-you didn't read the contract!" he roared. Smirking, Lucius hurried off to the floo before they started hexing him, feeling rather proud of himself.

"I-I was angry!" Sirius started to yell but shrunk back into his seat when Remus stood up and loomed over him. "I do stupid things when I'm angry."

"Clearly," Remus growled. "And you wonder why they didn't want to tell you."

"Remus," Sirius pleaded and tried to grab his hand, hoping the werewolf knew how to make everything right again like he always did. Remus ripped his own hand away.

"I honestly don't know what to say to you." There was a cold fire in his eyes that told Sirius that Remus wouldn't forgive him until Kim was back home, and this whole mess was a bad memory. Without another word, Remus went upstairs to go to bed.

Cole sighed as if he were holding his breath the whole time. "Well that was awkward." He turned to Harry, who tried to mentally prepare himself for whatever was about to come out of the young man's mouth. "So Harry, you excited to be an uncle?"

Harry gaped but only for a split second since he knew something like this is coming. He smiled sarcastically. "Oh, it's going to be bloody brilliant."

* * *

Kim had never been to Malfoy Manor before and wished she had it in her to look around, but right now all she wanted to do was go home. She felt the house elves watching her and wanted to have a fit and tell them to buzz off. Her inner-Hermione stopped her though, which only made her remember that Snape gave her double homework due tomorrow since he gave her the day off. She groaned.

"What's the matter?" Draco asked fearfully, not sure if she was in pain or going to start yelling at him. It was more likely the latter.

Kim sighed. "Snape gives too much homework."

Draco smiled with relief. "Now we can do it together."

"Yeah…" Kim's voice shook slightly and her grip tightened on her backpack with her hastily packed clothes. She wished she had the mental strength to send Sirius a howler.

Narcissa glared at the fireplace and tapped her foot, knowing that her husband must be stirring up trouble. "What is taking Lucius so long? He was right behind me."

"So impatient, my darling," Lucius muttered as he stepped through the floo. He turned to Kim and Draco. "Go to bed. This is nothing for you to worry about."

Kim opened her mouth to object, but Draco took her backpack with one hand and grabbed her wrist with the other, hurrying up the stairs. "I want to go home in the morning!" she whimpered. "What if Sirius already feels bad? Maybe we can go home now."

Draco stopped at his room and let go of her hand to open the door. "He had no reason to talk to you like that. You're stressed out enough as it is."

"Well I wasn't too nice when I found out either," Kim sniffed as she walked in and sat on his bed. "And he's been worrying for almost two weeks. And-and he was trying to be nice before that," she cried. "I want to go home!"

"Just like I wanted to go home last year!" Draco snapped, wincing when she started crying loudly. He was really stressed out too… "I'm sorry. But…can we just stay here for a while? I feel…better here, like everyone isn't against me."

Kim took a minute to quiet down and stared at him with makeup smudged eyes. "That's not fair." She sighed, suddenly very tired. "But I'll stay until you feel comfortable going back."

Draco smiled and threw her backpack on his bed. "Thank you." He walked over to his dresser. "You can have one of my shirts if you forgot to pack pajamas."

"I remembered." That's all she packed, actually with her toothbrush and potions. She really thought she would be back in the morning. She would have to harass Kreacher first thing when she woke up. She felt her face heat up as he started taking off his dress robes. "Do we have to…?"

Draco turned around and blinked. "What?" She stared at him until the pieces clicked together in his mind. "Oh Merlin! No. Not if you don't want to. After today…"

Kim glowered. Definitely the wrong thing to say. "Gee, thanks. I guess we'll talk in late winter, when my clothes start fitting again."

"Kim!" Draco tossed his dress coat on the floor. "You were just acting like you didn't want to! It's been a long day, and before the wedding, we hadn't so much as kissed since the Department of Mysteries! I thought you were uncomfortable with having sex!"

"I am!" Kim shot back.

Draco threw his hands up in the air. Maybe this was what his mother meant when she warned him about mood swings. "Then why are you so upset!"

"_Because_ you were all too happy to _not_ do it." She scowled and kicked her shoes off. "My dress barely zipped up this afternoon."

Draco wanted to bang his head on the wall when it finally dawned on him. "You're pregnant with twins, and you tried that dress on, what? Two weeks ago?"

"A week and a half," she muttered, unzipping the dress with her wand. "I look like I have a soccer ball under my skin!"

"I'm sure you are exaggerating." Draco tried not to stare as she got undressed. He imagined she wouldn't be too happy, considering what they were talking about, but he was really curious ever since he saw her yesterday. He was sure that she wouldn't be comfortable with him feeling the babies.

Kim grabbed a t-shirt from her backpack, which was stolen from Harry's Dudley Dursley collection, and threw it on, even though it fell a bit at her shoulders. "It's the ball we were playing with on my birthday last year. Harry called it a football!"

Draco frowned as he tried to remember. He smiled when he could finally picture what she was talking about. "Oh yeah! You do."

Kim stomped over to him and whacked him on the shoulder. "Draco! This is the moment where you're supposed to reassure me and say that I'm still beautiful and always will be! Then I swoon in your arms, and we put the silencing charms up."

"Do you want to have sex or not?" Draco found himself getting more confused by the second. "Because you're giving me a headache."

Kim stuck her nose in the air as she changed her underwear. "No. But remember this when I start feeling fat and ugly again because you failed this test. I'm too tired to lecture you anymore."

"I'll make sure to take notes next time," Draco drawled as he went back to getting changed. "The door next to me connects to the bathroom, if you want to wash your face."

Kim made a frustrated noise as she opened the bathroom door with her wand. "Right before I'm about to lie down," she grumbled. "See! You do need to take notes because you're failing every test!"

Draco rolled his eyes as he continued getting ready for bed. It was not even eight, but it had been a long day, and he was sure they would have trouble sleeping. How long would they stay? A few days? A week? He was sure she wanted to have the babies at Grimmauld, even though the place was literally disgusting.

Ten minutes later, Kim flopped into bed next to him. "I hope someone writes tomorrow," she said with a yawn. "If not, I'll write in a couple of days."

"I'm sure they will." Draco smiled, hoping that Black was getting an earful right now. He turned to his side and watched her stare at the ceiling. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Kim filled her cheeks with air and exhaled. "Well, I woke up from a coma induced by a deadly magical ring that I have to wear for six months, found out I was pregnant, found out I was pregnant with twins, got engaged, got married, and got kicked out of my house all in the span of two weeks. I think numb just about covers it right now."

Draco laughed. "Sounds like something that would happen in those shitty novels that Daphne likes to read."

Kim turned over to face him and narrowed her eyes. "It's your life too! You just don't have to get fat."

"Not fat," Draco muttered. "There's a difference."

Kim placed her hands on her stomach, glaring at it. "Says the one who doesn't need to get a whole not wardrobe."

Draco bit his lip, glad she couldn't see the nervousness in his eyes in the dark. "Can I…?"

"Hmm?" Kim took her eyes away from her hands. A slow smile spread across her face. "You don't have to ask. Sylvia already molested me today. _She_ didn't ask." She snatched his hand before he could respond and placed it at the top of her stomach, ignoring his slightly shocked gasp. She ran her fingers over his knuckles. "Nothing's going on in there but…"

Draco leaned closer to her and kissed her forehead. He wasn't sure if he should tell her, but he did already feel like he loved the babies. "Give it a month or so. Then they'll keep you up all night."

"Wonderful." Kim blinked away tears. She hoped she was home by then because she really wasn't ready for this but was afraid to talk about it with Draco. She didn't want him to think she hated him or the babies. She was just really scared and wished she had her family to tell her that everything will be alright and to stop sulking. "Maybe by then I'll figure out a way to transplant them into you."

Draco laughed softly. "Good luck with that."

* * *

The next morning, Harry found Sirius sulking in the library, looking like he hadn't slept a wink. "Remus says that he still wants you to take everyone to Diagon Alley."

Sirius tore his eyes away from the empty fireplace, which he rigged to glow if someone used the floo downstairs. "Because he can't stand the sight of me. Can you?"

Harry smiled, even though he knew it didn't reach his eyes. "You're a git. But at least you know you're a git. Remus is going to try to write to Narcissa as well as Kim. He's going to try to get everyone back, promising that you'll be a nice doggy."

Sirius frowned, wondering if Remus was in a good enough mood to use those words. Probably not. "And I will," he declared, wishing Remus hadn't thrown out all the alcohol. "I just…She was so upset about one baby. Now there are two. It was like finding out she was pregnant all over again."

Harry shrugged. "You can mention that in the beginning of your groveling."

"I better start writing down exactly what I have to say," Sirius joked but there was still sadness in his eyes.

* * *

Narcissa glared at her husband the next morning while the kids were still asleep. The sun was barely up, and he thought he was being sneaky when he quietly climbed out of bed. He didn't know it, and she would never let him know, but she was a light sleeper. "Why are you burning those letters?"

Lucius jumped and banged his head on the fireplace, cursing. "Merlin, woman! None of your business. Now go to bed!"

Narcissa raised an eyebrow as she took a few steps closer to him. "I suppose that means it is my business. Especially since I can see my name on the letter you're about toss. Does it say Kim on the one that's already burning?"

Lucius glared at her. His father had warned him not to marry such a clever woman. Narcissa was lucky he loved her more than his own life. "They are from Lupin. I will not have them treat our son like that, Cissy!"

Narcissa snatched the letter out of his hand. "We can live here, but I will not let you isolate Kimberly. She thinks we don't like her—"

"And we don't," Lucius butted in.

"And you don't!" she snapped. "I understand not letting Sirius through the floo, but Remus has been nothing but kind to Draco. And I want her to be able to go home on her birthday, which is in a few weeks, I might add."

Lucius flinched as she ripped open the letter, reading it quickly. "Before you saying anything—"

"You did what?" Narcissa gasped, astonished. "Lucius! How could you? They love her like she is their own flesh and blood!"

"If she is in our custody, they can't treat our son like dirt," Lucius said stubbornly. "I will allow Lupin and Potter to visit but no one else, besides her healer, of course. And not for at least a week."

Narcissa shook her head, disgusted with him. "Her healer is coming once Severus is done tutoring for the day. And Remus will be here after dinner and that is final!"

Lucius opened his mouth to argue but stopped once he saw how furious his wife was. Her face was the color of the inside of a watermelon and her eyes were full of fire. He cast his eyes to the charred remains of Kim's letter from Remus. If he valued his happiness, he would do what his wife said. He straightened up and acted like his giving in was no big deal. "Very well."

* * *

Kim nearly ran upstairs when she saw Darwin after Severus left and threatened to expel her from his school if she didn't do her homework. She wanted to sulk at the fact that she hadn't heard from anyone all day. "You aren't supposed to examine me for another four weeks!"

"I wanted to check your blood pressure, given yesterday's events." Darwin smiled at her pout. And of course, everyone at Grimmauld wanted to know exactly what was going on. "Are you going to live here long term? That will make the birthing plan much easier, actually."

Kim paled. She hadn't really thought about that. They did have to come out of her eventually… "Uh, what do you mean?"

"I would rather perform a Cesarean here than at Grimmauld, if that is what you want," Darwin informed her. "It's more sanitary."

Kim looked at Draco, but she could tell that he had no idea what a C-section was. He really needed to get out more. "I-I don't know."

She nearly yelped when Lucius came out of wherever he was hiding from. "What is that, Healer? She will use no pain potions that I have never heard of. There are plenty out there that are perfectly safe for the baby…_babies_ without you having to resort to your own inventions."

Kim glared at him, wanting to yell at him that it wasn't his decision, not knowing that it actually was. "It is not a potion. It's a procedure and isn't for pain. Well, not really. People do it in emergencies or for multiples."

Lucius glared back. "I am unfamiliar with this procedure, Kimberly. I will not be comfortable with you doing something when I have no idea of the consequences." Kim looked to Draco for help, but he looked like he agreed.

Darwin smiled, trying to keep them from fighting. "I've performed almost a hundred in my lifetime. Instead of giving birth vaginally, I will make an incision and take the babies out through an opening I will create just under Kim's abdomen."

Kim's shoulders slumped when both Lucius and Draco looked sickened at the thought. She at least wanted to talk about it. The thought of pushing two babies out of where she peed was rather terrifying. "It's not that bad—"

"Not that bad!" Draco squeaked. "That's the most barbaric thing I've ever heard! He just said he literally wants to cut you open and rip the babies out!"

"I can do it in a few minutes, if it were an emergency," Darwin tried. This was way he always advocated mixing magical and Muggle medicine. No one in the Muggle world would be this horrified.

"She will not have the procedure," Lucius said, with finality in his voice. "Check her blood pressure and leave."

Kim's eyes popped out of her head as Darwin started to comply. "Don't listen to him! What if I get too worn out?! Then what? I-They're going to weigh like six pounds or more!"

Darwin smiled. "I'll bring some pamphlets in a few weeks."

"Sirius is the only one who can stop you, not him!" Kim yelled. "He would understand!"

Darwin raised his eyebrows at Lucius, who paled slightly but held his ground. Sighing, he pointed his wand at her and ran a few diagnostics. "Everything's fine. But try to drink more water. And sleep on your side. I'm assuming you aren't sleeping on your stomach anymore. Avoid taking really hot show—"

"Hey!" Kim looked between him and Lucius. "Why is he ready to shit his pants?"

Darwin chuckled as he headed for the fireplace, half wishing that he could stick around to see Lucius get in trouble. "I'm sure he'll tell you once I'm gone."

Kim folded her arms over her chest and stared Lucius down as Darwin flooed back to Grimmauld. "I'm waiting."

Lucius considered lying, saying that Black signed away his parental rights willingly, but then he realized that Narcissa would send the girl back to Grimmauld, and he couldn't do that to his son. "Black didn't read the marriage contract when he signed it. Narcissa and I have custody of you now."

"Wha…Why?" Kim felt her throat close up with fear. Narcissa and Lucius didn't even _like_ her. What if they never let her go home again? She would be stuck in Malfoy Manor forever and never see her friends or family again. Her eyes slide to Draco. "Did you know about this?" she somehow managed to gasp out.

Draco shook his head frantically. "I-I didn't even know there was a marriage contract!"

Kim took a step back, wishing she had somewhere to run off to. Nothing was familiar, and the floo was locked up after Darwin left. Shaking, she whimpered, "I want to go home!"

"Okay, we'll get you home." Draco took a step closer to her, wishing she didn't feel so betrayed. She stepped back again until she was against the wall. Knowing he was only inducing more panic, he stopped and turned to his father. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"Don't talk to me like that!" Lucius snapped. "I think I've done enough for you. I want them to treat you with respect. Potter choked you, she threw things at you, and Black was his oh so pleasant self. I needed to take control of the situation."

"Really?" Draco yelled. "Because this just made everything ten times worse! How are they supposed to trust me after this? What? Are you going to wave this in Black's face for over a year until she's of age?"

"If that's what it takes, yes." Lucius narrowed his eyes at the boy. He seemed pretty happy to be home this morning. If they were still at Grimmauld, things wouldn't nearly be as peaceful. "You will understand when someone picks on your child."

"Will I ever be allowed to go home again?" Kim asked fearfully. Lucius almost felt guilty. She had been behaving herself today.

Lucius nodded curtly. "Narcissa isn't too pleased with me either. She says you will be home by your birthday."

Kim bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming. She felt a panic attack coming on as her heart started to race, and she started to sweat. That was in almost three weeks! Not wanting Lucius to see her have a breakdown, she ran passed him to lock herself in Draco's room.

"Thanks." Draco was ashamed of himself because for a brief second, he wished his father was back in Azkaban where he couldn't have done something like this. "She was just starting to get used to the idea of staying here for a little while, and now you've made her a prisoner in a place I would have liked her to think of as her own home!"

Lucius tried to look bored and indifferent, but his eyes betrayed him. "Lupin will be here tonight after dinner. Perhaps we can work something out."

Draco shook his head and made a noise of frustration. "She'll be better in a day or so, which means she'll want revenge. Take that as a warning. The last person she got revenge on, Greg, she tossed out the window and broke his back."

Lucius gaped. The boy's father had complained to him about that, but Lucius thought he was exaggerating. "Thank you son," he said sarcastically. "For giving me such a wonderful daughter-in-law."

Draco smirked, knowing that his father was in for a rough few weeks. "You're welcome. Try not to eat anything that the male house elves didn't make. She has Dippy and Mopsy eating out of the palm of her hands, and poisoning has been her specialty lately."

* * *

Harry wanted to bang his head against the wall by the time he, Sirius, Ron, Ginny, and Dora flooed to Diagon Alley. Sirius was driving him nuts. He felt like a bad person for thinking it, but he wanted to go one day without hearing about the baby, well babies. He wasn't exactly jealous. He just wanted things to go back to normal. Sirius couldn't even go to the Quidditch store without his sad eyes traveling to the toy brooms.

"Sirius?" Harry winced at the stiffness in his own voice. "Can you please stop moping around? I don't mean to be rude, but we all kind of need a breather from all this."

Sirius straightened up and then flushed with embarrassment. "Sorry. So, Ron needs new robes and you need a new broom?"

Harry bit his lip and counted to ten. "No. I have a Firebolt, Sirius. That you gave me. I need new robes for school because you can see my ankles. Ron is getting Ginny a new broom because he's Cole's heir and forgot until now that he's a millionaire." Ron blushed as Ginny laughed at him. "Then, Remus says that you have to take us to lunch at the Leaky Cauldron before we floo to Hogwarts to talk to Dumbledore."

Sirius nodded and put a strained smile on his face. "Of course. I'm an idiot. Sorry, my boy."

Harry rolled his eyes, half listening to the questions that Ron was asking the shop owner. "I'm sick of the house being so tense."

Sirius froze, then sighed sadly. "I know. I promise not to get angry like that again. Your Christmas break will be loads better, I promoise. I'll get Albus to extend the wards to the back yard tonight. We'll risk our lives cleaning out all the gnomes and Devil's Snare tomorrow…try to get rid of that permanent fog. Then you can race Ginny and her new broom."

Harry stared in shock. He expect Sirius to be hurt and sulk for the rest of the day, saying that the house would be tense and gloomy until Kim came home or until she had the babies. He supposed Sirius was a lot more mature than he gave him credit for. "Thanks, Sirius."

At lunch, Ginny wouldn't stop going on and on about her new broom, which Harry couldn't help but think of as cute. Then he felt a stab of guilt. He should have invited Luna today… She was coming over for his birthday and sleeping over in Ginny's room, and they exchanged letters every day, so Harry felt like a jerk for not inviting her. At least Mad-Eye couldn't yell at him for giving his location away through the owl post.

He tried to push that to the back of his mind as he ordered his food, but only managed it when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Once the waiter was gone, he turned and glanced briefly at the diners a few tables behind them. He frowned at Sirius, who was sitting across from him and could look without being so obvious. "Sirius? Isn't that Pansy and her mum?"

Sirius stretched himself slightly up to look over Harry's head and then quickly sat back down. "Yeah. Having lunch with two known Death Eaters."

Ginny's eyes widened, but she didn't whip her head around to see what was going on behind her like she wanted to. "Should we go?"

"Since when do Death Eaters decide to go out for a lunch date?" Ron asked, so loudly that Harry knew that if Kim were here, she would kick him in the shins.

Ginny glared at him. "They are people, Ron, no matter how close to being subhuman they are. But we had better go before they notice we're here."

"Why would Pansy…?" Harry shook his head. "She and Kim were friends, as far as I could tell. Reluctant friends, but friends all the same."

"Which is why we can't let anyone know about…" Sirius frowned, wanting to kick himself for almost saying 'the babies'. "About you know what. We can't trust anyone."

Ron looked over Ginny's head. "I don't know. Pansy looks pretty flustered. Maybe her mum's trying to force her into it. Make her think being a Death Eater is all luncheons and butterflies."

"Don't forget the unicorns," Ginny grumbled to herself.

"It doesn't matter why she's here," Sirius hissed. "It just matters that she is. We can't trust her. Be careful around her at school this year."

"Shouldn't we try to help her?" Harry asked quietly. Pansy's mother was a troll with Veela skin stretched over her body. He would bet his Firebolt that she was trying to force her daughter into this. The only problem was, he couldn't tell if it was working.

Sirius shook his head. "And risk having a spy? If Pansy wants help, she's going to have come to us. Then it will be up to Dumbledore to decide."

* * *

They took their lunch to go and had a picnic at the Black Lake after that. The Giant Squid was happy to have Ginny's leftovers. Next, Harry and Sirius were off to Dumbledore's office while Ginny and Ron tried out her new broom. The past word was Chocolate Sprinkles.

Dumbledore was reading over letters in his office instead of writing them like he usually was when they found him at his desk. He looked amused and didn't look up from his desk when they arrived. "For a cursed career, the Defense Against the Dark Arts position always has a lot of applicants."

"Elizabeth quit, sir?" Harry asked, vaguely surprised. She seemed to like her job enough, even though it took her two or three weeks to grade essays and could barely open her eyes during breakfast.

Dumbledore chuckled. "She told me that she didn't feel like teaching anymore."

"Do you have a replacement in mind?" Sirius asked, sounding annoyed and suspicious at the same time. No professor could be better than Remus.

Dumbledore smiled and had a look in his eye that reminded Harry of Sirius right before he was about to throw a dungbomb at Remus. "Oh, yes."

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "But you aren't going to tell us?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "We have more pressing manners, I'm afraid."

"About Voldemort," Harry stated, wishing that they could get rid of him simply like shoot him off into space or something.

"He has been rather quiet, hasn't he?" Dumbledore piled up the applications and tossed them into an already overstuffed drawer in his desk. "Either he is waiting for you to mess up or is planning something big."

Harry's eyes darkened. "Or both."

"Or both." Dumbledore drummed his fingers on his desk. "Which is why I want to prepare you for what is to come."

"_For neither can live while the other survives_," Harry recited bitterly.

Dumbledore inclined his head to Harry. "Sometimes I believe that that is a self-fulfilling prophecy. You wouldn't be nearly as involved in the war if Tom hadn't targeted you so."

Before Harry could respond, Sirius said firmly, "No."

Dumbledore blinked, as if he hadn't expected Sirius's instant objection. Harry actually did and was surprised his godfather didn't say something sooner. "No?"

"Harry studies this shit all the time. I practice dueling with him twice a week." Sirius folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, glaring at the old man. "He's a kid, Dumbledore. You can't expect him to spend all of his time focusing on the War."

Dumbledore pursed his lips, choosing his words carefully. "I want him to know what he is up against."

"And how are you going to do that?" Sirius asked loudly. "I don't think Harry can interview good old Voldy or read about him in _Witch Weekly._"

"I would like him involved in the search for Voldemort's horcruxes," Dumbledore said bluntly. "We need to find out exactly how many he has left and where he has them hidden."

"I can tell you where," Sirius snapped. "In the most dangerous places possible. There's no way I'm letting you put Harry in that kind of danger."

"Sirius." Harry sighed, suddenly feeling tired. "I don't want to either, but if there's a way to stop Voldemort, I have to help. If not, he isn't going to stop until he kills me and everyone around me."

"I…" Sirius scowled. He nearly shouted that he didn't care until he ran what Harry said through his mind again. He knew his godson was right, but that didn't mean he felt comfortable with him joining the war effort. "I don't want you risking your life."

"But I have to." Harry looked down at his hands, which were in his lap. "If not this will never end. We barely even go out in public anymore without an Order member or more watching us. People are going to die…they've already died."

Sirius bit his tongue to keep himself from yelling that it wasn't Harry's problem. "You aren't going anywhere with him without a group of Order members, which will include me and or Remus." He turned his eyes to Dumbledore. "Right?"

Dumbledore smiled kindly. The horcruxes weren't a secret anymore within the Order, and Voldemort already killed the one inside Harry. There was nothing to hide, and at this point, they needed all the help they could get. "Of course, Sirius."

* * *

Until Lupin arrived, Draco gave Kim some space and did his homework in the family library. Dinner was tense and silent, although his mother had a smug look on her face like she thought her husband was getting exactly what he deserved. His father seemed to be torn between pouting and being self-righteous. Draco was a little annoyed when the house elves said Kim refused to eat dinner, but he figured that was a battle to be fought at breakfast. Hopefully, Lupin will make her feel better.

When Lupin showed up, his father made sure to hide in the other side of the Manor. Draco hoped that Lupin wouldn't think he was a part of this and felt like an anxious balloon was filling up his chest when the fireplace glowed. But Lupin was more sad than anything else. His eyes were red, and he looked like he hadn't slept all night. He tried to smile but seemed too exhausted for the task. "Hello, Draco. Narcissa wrote back to me and told me this was all Lucius. I just…I just want to see her."

Draco nodded, so nervous that he felt like a bobble head doll. "I'll go get her."

Not sure if he should knock or not, Draco opened the door to his room to find Kim sound asleep. She looked more peaceful and relaxed than he had seen her since this whole mess started, making him feel guilty about waking her up. She was curled up with a pillow when he shook her shoulder. Instantly, her eyes flew open. Startled, she gasped, "What? What's going on?"

"Lu—Remus is here." Draco smiled, trying to be reassuring. "Do you want him to come up here or do you want to go see him?"

Kim sat up slowly, blinking owlishly at him. "Can you ask him to come tomorrow?"

Draco sighed, knowing she was going to be difficult for at least a few days. "He can come up here, if you want. Please? Can you do it for him?"

Kim stared off into the distance. All she wanted to do was sleep right now. "I'll go," she whispered.

"Thank you." Draco felt himself relax slightly. He knew that if they started fighting that they would both say awful things to each other. "My father changed the password to activate the floo. As soon as I find out what it is, I'll tell you."

Kim put a hand on her belly, looked down, then back up to glare at him. "The house elf Dippy told me an hour ago that it is Gemini. I told her that I would eat a baked potato if she told me."

Draco laughed as she got up, and they started heading down the stairs. "Should we tell him they aren't identical?"

"Nope." Kim smiled and grabbed his hand. "One of my revenge plans. He won't know the sex or names or anything until they're born. He's so controlling that it'll drive him nuts."

Draco raised her eyebrows. "One of?"

"Don't touch the coffee at breakfast tomorrow," she said seriously. "And don't touch the tuna at lunch. Or the butter beer at dinner."

Draco shook his head, about to say that his father might catch on after being poisoned at every meal. Unfortunately, he was too busy hissing out in pain when she squeezed his hand at the sight of Lupin. She froze, and they simply stared at each other.

Remus tried to smile again. "Hello," he said hoarsely.

Kim smiled back, even though her eyes were filled with tears. "Lucy is meeting with his businesses in two days. I'm sneaking over for an hour. Tell Sirius to have his begging for forgiveness speech ready by noon Monday."

"Will do." Remus rubbed at his eyes, hoping she wouldn't see that he was trying not to cry. "Narcissa wrote that all the house elves love you. I can see the power has already gone to your head."

"Everyone loves me," she muttered, laughing softly. "How could they not?" She straightened up and smirked triumphantly, reminding him of James. "I may be in a bit of a funk, but I always win. Lucius will spend tomorrow on the toilet. I'll put itching powder in his underwear for his business meeting. Most of my other plans are still in development."

Draco felt his eyes widen but said nothing. That's what she was doing all that time he left her alone? He thought she would have been sobbing hysterically and would want nothing to do with him. She was definitely getting back to her old self. He vaguely wondered if he should warn his father again but quickly decided against it. He didn't want itching powder in _his_ underwear.

Remus started to laugh, but his face quickly crumbled into misery. Trying not to cry, he quickly closed the distance between them and hugged her tightly. "I love you. We all do and want you to come home."

Kim closed her eyes and rested her chin on his shoulder. "I will. Don't cry, Remus. I just have to prank my way back. I give Lucius a week. Two, if he's feeling stubborn. And we have to whip Sirius into shape too. If that doesn't work, we'll lock them in a room together and make them fight to the death."

Remus drew away and kissed the top of her head. "Leave that to me. And Harry. And make sure to write, every day."

"I will," she promised. "Don't worry Remus, I've got this. Lucius is no match of a second generation Marauder."

"I'm afraid not." Remus laughed genuinely, remembering when Lucius thought that Kim was going to kill him with a water gun. "I almost feel sorry for him."

"Don't." Kim put her hands on her hips. "Lucius foolishly declared war. He is going to regret the day that he ever messed with Kimberly Potter." She grinned evilly. "Even better, Kimberly Malfoy. He's toast."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Kim's going back to her old self! Things will slowly start looking up after this chapter. And poor Lucius will have to suffer lots of pranks! :) Please review!**


	4. Negotiations

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 4

Lucius almost had a fit Monday morning. He could barely take two steps without that _girl_ (he often thought of her as a demented imp) pulling some sort of joke on him. He had a house elf guard his door at night so he could properly get a good night's sleep, but somehow, when he opened his drawers after he showered, all his robes were fluorescent pink. "Fuck! Fuck Merlin to hell!" he snarled.

Narcissa groaned as she slowly sat up, half asleep. "What happened now, my love?"

"I have meetings! Several meetings today and all my bloody robes are brighter than bubble gum!" Lucius spat, kicking the dresser so hard it shook. "What our son ever saw in her, I do not know!"

Narcissa blinked, smiling slightly. "Really? She's been nothing but sweet to me."

"Because she is the devil in disguise!" Lucius nearly shouted. "She wants me to bow down and grovel and apologize to her! And I will not!"

Narcissa giggled. "For the sake of your sanity, Lucius, I think you should. Just take the charm off."

Breathing like an enraged bull, Lucius waved his wand at the robes, feeling his face turn a shade redder than it already was when nothing happened. "She fucking dyed them! How the hell did she dye them, dry them, and put them back without me noticing?"

Narcissa covered her mouth to hide her smile and hoped that no more laughter escaped. "She's smarter than you give her credit for. I'm sure she doesn't know about your father's robes in the attic. Just borrow them, and the house elves will fix these while you're gone."

Lucius glared at her. His father's robes smelled like elven cigarettes and like they were doused in expensive cologne. "Have an elf send them to me when they are back to normal. And properly reprimand, Kimberly. Make sure she never does anything like this again."

Narcissa shook her head, still smiling. "Do something nice for her. Then you won't have to sleep with one eye open."

"I'm not afraid of her," Lucius growled but then his shoulders slumped in weary defeat. "But to keep our family peaceful, I will try to appease her."

Narcissa rolled her eyes. "Nice save, Luc. I have full confidence in you."

Grumbling about daughter-in-laws and how horrible he looked in pink, Lucius stomped off to yell at a house elf to get all the dust off his father's robes. Once the door was firmly shut behind him, Narcissa threw herself flat on the bed and started laughing at him, only laughing hard when she heard him screaming over the state of his father's robes.

* * *

Kim didn't really announce that she was coming over on Monday. She wrote to Remus every day like she promised, even though there wasn't much to write besides the fact that Snape gave enough homework to traumatize her for life. _He_ knew she was coming over, but she had no idea if he told everyone else. She convinced Snape to give Draco his Potions lesson before their lunch break so she could sneak away without running into Narcissa.

She grinned when she found no one hanging by the floo. Maybe she would just go about the house like she never left, just to mess with everyone. A small giggle escaped her as she raced up the stairs. How would she scare first?

As usual, Harry was her first victim. He was trying to catch Ginny up on all the DA stuff that she missed. "The trick is to always try to cast the first spell. Try not to even think about it. The moment you see the enemy, disarm or stun them."

Kim leaned in the doorway and folded her arms, feeling like Remus when he was getting ready to dish out his words of wisdom. "Or kill them like I did Bellatrix."

Ginny squeaked and turned beet red, as if she would get in trouble for being alone with Harry. Harry, who was pointing his wand at an invisible attacker, nearly fell over. Since he back was facing her, Kim couldn't tell if he was freaking out because of the sound of her voice or for the same reason as Ginny. He spun around, green eyes wide as if he were seeing a ghost. "Kim!"

She smirked and straightened up. "What's happening, Uncle Harry?"

"Er…" Harry gaped slightly and looked at Ginny as if she could tell him what to say to that. Once he took a minute to recover, he shrugged. "You know. The usual. Got in a nasty fight with some garden gnomes yesterday. Ron beat me at chess. You?"

Kim wrinkled her nose and laughed silently. "You know, the usual. Became queen of the house elves. Ate a jar of peanut butter at three in the morning."

"I'm sure Lucius is loving that." Ginny could only imagine how irritated the man to find that his house elves were more loyal to a half blood than himself, the Malfoy family patriarch.

Kim shrugged. "Three Malfoys beats one. They even didn't say anything when I poisoned him three times, shrunk his father's robes with an irreversible charm, and put itching powder in his underwear this morning, among other things. And they even gave me the floo password. It's been a busy weekend."

"I take it you found out what he did?" Harry asked, eyes hardening as she nodded. "Sirius is devastated."

Kim sighed guiltily. "I know. Where is he? I only have two hours."

"Remus told us you were coming." Ginny looked at her watch. "But he said noon."

"Snape is making a poison right now." Kim pouted with poorly concealed jealousy. "The fumes can retard fetal grow apparently, so I just have to write an essay on it."

"Oh you poor thing," Ginny cooed. "At least you can still poison Lucius."

"Yeah," Kim said sadly. "But only with laxatives."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Sirius is pacing in the library while Remus is trying to calm him down."

Kim grimaced. Hopefully Sirius wouldn't cry like Remus did. "He better be happy to see me…" _And not cry!_ she added in her head.

Harry pointed to the door, wondering if he was going to have to take her to the library by force. "Only one way to find out."

Kim peeked at Sirius pacing from the cracked wooden library door before she was brave enough to step in. Remus was watching him with a mixture of amusement and annoyance, much like a cat watches a string being waved in its face. Sirius threw his hands up in the air. "Why didn't you just kidnap her the other day, Moony?"

"Because," Remus said for what Kim could tell was the millionth time. "She was starting to act like her old self again, Padfoot. And if she keeps it up, Lucius will be begging for us to take her back soon enough."

"Hey!" Kim couldn't resist squeaking, forgetting that she was hidden behind the door and that she wasn't supposed to be there yet. Wincing, she opened the door to find Sirius looking like he had seen a unicorn doing alchemy, and Remus seeming only mildly surprised. She blushed but bravely walked into the room. "Lucius and I are getting along just fine, thank you very much."

"Really?" Remus raised his eyebrows and grabbed a book, taking out a letter that he was using as a book mark. "Because he wrote to me the other day saying that you replaced the soap in his bathtub with hardened bacon fat."

Kim smiled brightly. "Oh yeah…I forgot about that one!"

Sirius scowled, too stressed to really laugh at that like he wanted to. "He better not punish you for it."

Kim rolled her eyes, looking a little bitter. "He would never punish _the incubator_. He charmed the bathroom so I can't raise the temperature in the bathtub too high, _and _he has me on a meal schedule, _and_ he's banned coffee from the house, _and_ he makes me walk in the garden if Draco is making a potion that I can't be around, _and_—"

"And it sounds like the two of you are at war with each other," Remus said with laughter in his voice. Lucius complained to him daily, asking him how to make Kim stop. Remus could only respond by telling Lucius to try apologizing, but so far, it looked like his advice was ignored.

"He deserves it," Sirius groused, having dealt with enough Malfoys to last a lifetime.

Remus smiled and put his hand on Sirius's shoulder. "I'll give you both a few minutes."

Kim pursed her lips and folded her hands behind her back, waiting for Sirius to say something. He looked away and gestured for her to sit down on a dark green and gold couch a few feet away. Still not meeting her eye, Sirius sat in the matching armchair across from the couch and started fiddling with his hands. Kim stared at him, a little impatiently, but he still didn't say anything. "I only have two hours, Sirius."

Sirius flinched, wanting to tell her that Lucius could stuff it, and that the Malfoy patriarch would have to kill him before she returned to the Manor. But one small detail stopped him, which he started off by grudgingly admitting. "You look happier."

"I wasn't at first." Kim sighed. And sometimes she still wasn't. "But after I found out what Lucius did, and I realized that I wasn't coming home anytime soon… I don't know. I felt like he would take advantage of my sulking and make sure I _never_ came home. I can't- I'm tired of being miserable all the time."

Sirius finally looked her in the eye. "You don't have to defend feeling better. I _want_ you to feel better. I just wish that you could feel better here."

Kim bit the inside of her cheek to keep from yelling that maybe he shouldn't have thrown Draco out of the house then. "You can't push Draco away, Sirius. I mean, sometimes I still resent him too but…But I love him. He didn't do it on purpose, and he's being a _way_ better parent than me right now, so-so we have to get over it, I guess."

"I guess." Sirius smiled sadly. "I suppose it would be hard for him to be a proper father if I skinned him alive." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. His next words were hard to get out. "I'll try to be civil towards him. Hopefully you'll have girls. Then he'll understand why I'm a git once and a while. Or all the time."

Kim narrowed her eyes. "I want boys." Sirius raised his eyebrows. "What?"

Sirius chuckled. "Usually parents give an 'I don't care as long as its happy and healthy speech' that makes everyone melt with joy over your love of your child-children."

Kim made an anxious face, feeling like she messed up. "I-I'd be okay with girls."

Sirius only laughed harder. "Don't worry about it. I don't want you to be disappointed if they're girls. That's all. We only thought there was Harry, and before we knew the sex, I told Lily that she better give me a godson because I knew nothing about 'girl stuff', as I put it."

Kim's eyes widened. "Sirius!"

"Oh, I know." Sirius grimaced at the memory. "Lily started crying, so James had to throw me out of the house. Remus made me give her a pink onesie as an apology with a signed document saying that I was more than willing to do 'girl stuff'. Once we found out she was having a boy, Lily painted my nails and made me have a tea party with the neighborhood girls."

"Tea parties sound nice…" The corners of Kim's mouth turned slightly upward. "But I have to get through the pooping everywhere and high pitched crying every two hours first."

Sirius shuddered. "Life lesson number one, don't give one and a half year olds burritos."

Kim tried to keep her face blank but found it hard to hide her horror. "Gee thanks, Grandpa."

"Lily was trying to move you two from baby food to solids!" Sirius defended. "You liked the burritos more than the cereal." He tensed, realizing what she just said, and groaned. "I can't be a grandpa! You can call Moony that because he has grey hair! I'm too young!"

"Tough cookies!" Kim said loudly. "I'm getting you a cane for Christmas. Maybe dentures for your birthday."

Sirius smirked. "You'll be able to leave the house by then to buy my gifts." She glared at him suspiciously. "Because you'll be so big that you'll be able to disguise yourself as Saint Nick for the holidays."

Kim's eyes budged out of her head. He was probably right but that didn't make it okay! "I'm telling Remus!" she yelled, hopping up and running off before he could react. Sirius sighed happily when he heard Remus yell his name in exasperation. All was right with the world.

* * *

Draco was just about to send Kim a letter through the floo when he got a visitor. Severus had left once Draco had finished his potion, wanting to spend the day with his daughter. He going to tell Kim that she could stay until he father was due home tomorrow afternoon when he heard Blaise say, "I saw that you were home. A house elf let me in, since I was allowed past the wards last year. Have you been hiding from us all summer?"

Swearing, Draco jumped and banged his head on the top of the fireplace. "Dammit, Blaise!" Draco rubbed his head and looked at his watch. Kim was going to come back any minute. "Uh…" He flushed, not wanting to lie to his best friend. "Right now isn't a good time. I'm sorry. If you'd just give me a minute to send this letter." He waved it in the air, smiling nervously.

Blaise sighed with mock offense. "Fine. Stalk your girlfrien—" His eyes widened when he looked at the letter, or rather the hand holding it. "Are you wearing a wedding ring?"

Draco gaped like an idiot. There was no way to lie out of this one. "Maybe."

"You got _married_?!" Blaise exclaimed incredulously. "What the hell, Draco? Is that why we haven't heard from you for nearly a month?"

Feeling like a terrible friend, Draco felt ready to run away and hide when he heard the floo flames fill the fireplace. Kim didn't even notice Blaise at first. "I think Harry and Ginny love each other again," she immediately started babbling to him. "But Harry still has a thing for Luna, so they don't know what to do!"

Blaise paled. "Please tell me that you've been eating too many sweets lately."

Kim froze and robotically turned her head over to Blaise. Draco seemed ready to dig a hole to crawl in, so she decided to give him a break for once. "Candy makes me sick if I eat too much of it. Plus, Lucius doesn't want the incubator to get gestational diabetes. It isn't even in the house, as far as I can tell."

"Gestational?" Blaise squeaked, glad Pansy wasn't here. She'd kill Draco for sure.

Kim sighed impatiently and strode over to him. Then, she adopted an evil grin on her face, wanting to freak him out further. She put his hand on her stomach. "Does this feel like too many sweets?"

Blaise yelped as if he expected a foot to pop out and kick him across the room. He ripped his hand away. "N-no."

"I can explain," Draco said feebly, notf.

Kim put her hand on his arm. "I'll tell him." Her grin widened. "Since you know, I just took it upon myself to nearly make him shit his pants."

"You-you…" Blaise tried to shake the confusion out of his head. "I saw you not even a month ago. You looked _normal._"

"Gee thanks, Blaise." Kim threw herself on the nearest couch. "You can't tell anyone, not even Pansy. Got it?"

"But…" That's what he came here to talk to Draco about. Pansy was having a rough time lately and needed support from her friends.

Kim glared at him, reminding Blaise of the fact that she could turn into a lion and literally rip his throat out. "But someone could overhear you, and we can't have the Death Eaters finding out about the babies. And if they do, we'll know it was you and rip off all your toe nails."

Blaise felt himself turned a brownish green color. "Babies?"

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Kim!" Draco ran his hands through his hair and sat next to her. Blaise collapsed on the couch across from them. It wasn't every day you stopped by to visit your sixteen year old best friend to find him married with children on the way. "Start from the beginning."

"Fine. If he promises not to tell." Blaise nodded with numb shock, but Kim still seemed annoyed with him as she launched into the story. Draco looked surprised to find her admitting her own faults in the situation while Blaise had no idea what to think. If he did that to Pansy, he would be castrated for sure.

* * *

"That went well," Draco muttered later that night when they were in bed as he kissed Kim's jaw. She arched her head up and moaned slightly. "Father won't be home until tomorrow afternoon."

Kim grimaced. "Don't mention your father in attempts to seduce me."

Draco laughed softly in her ear. "I'm trying to say that we don't have to worry about being late for breakfast tomorrow."

She opened one eye. "Tell that to your twins."

Smiling, Draco lowered his head and kissed her belly, making her shiver. "I'll get up early and bring you something."

Kim smirked. "Sounds like a plan." A plan that went up in smoke as the light on the nightstand closest to her slowly flickered on and off. She growled with irritation. "Your father is such a liar."

Draco blinked in confusion. "What?"

"I'm queen of the house elves, remember? Off!" She pushed him off her roughly and slapped a pillow onto his lap.

Before Draco could ask what the hell was going on, his father opened the door…without knocking. Turning beet red, Draco clutched the pillow, trying to think of Mrs. Weasley in a bikini. Lucius chose to ignore his son's mortification. "Everything alright while I was gone?"

Kim smiled sweetly while Draco wondered why she wasn't placed in Slytherin. "Blaise stopped by right after Professor Snape gave us half a day. We went swimming."

Fear flashed in Lucius's eyes for the briefest of moments. "Did he swear to remain silent?" Kim nodded, trying not to show in her eyes how much she didn't like him. "You should have made him stay so he could take an Unbreakable Vow with me."

Kim dug her nails into Draco's arm, trying to wake him out of his embarrassed daze so he could defend her. "Narcissa didn't think it was necessary."

Lucius's lip curled with effort not to snap at her. "I will have a long talk with the boy next time he comes over," he said stiffly. "I will modify his memory if necessary."

"I actually…" Draco gulped when his father turned to him. "I was going to ask him to be one of the baby's godfather."

Lucius's eyes softened. "I am only trying to protect your family, Draco."

When Draco didn't respond, Kim asked politely, "How was your business stuff? Did they try to arrest you?"

"No. The money is more important to the board of trustees." Lucius tightened his grip on his cane, reminding Kim that she put itching powder in his underwear and did everything she could to ruin his day. Maybe that was why he came home early… It would be rather irritating after a while. "I was able to set up plans for the next several months. I will have to exchange a few letters, but that is all."

Kim nodded, not caring in the slightest. "That's cool, I guess."

Lucius sneered at her. "I stopped by because I would like to inform you that I will be talking with Black about your return home. I have some conditions."

"Like?" Kim thought she was never going to get home. Part of her was starting to like it here, actually. She saw Draco looking a little disappointed out of the corner of her eye.

"Like you will stay here during the full moon. And you will give birth here." His nose wrinkled in disgust. "Grimmauld is still in deplorable conditions."

Kim fidgeted in discomfort at the thought of giving birth. It even _sounded_ horrible. "But—"

"But soon you will have a hard time getting around," he said coldly. "If the wolf were to escape…It can out run a normal person. You wouldn't make it to the floo. All potions can be accidentally botched. I don't want you to get an infection after giving birth at Grimmauld. You can return once you are healed."

"_Normal?_" Kim shrieked as Lucius covered his ears. "Remus is a person too and—"

"And I'm sure he will agree," he snapped.

"Father," Draco protested weakly, gaining a bit of confidence once he realized his wasn't going to start yelling at him. "I think the biggest problem is you letting everyone in the Manor. Will you let Black in to see the babies? Because it's important that her family is there too."

Lucius glared at his son, raising his eyebrows when the boy held his ground. He was surprised to feel vaguely proud of him. "If they can behave, everyone can stay in the Manor after the New Year."

Kim smiled brightly. That was the first time that Lucius was really nice to her in a way that wasn't about the health of the babies. "Really?"

Lucius rolled his eyes. "Yes, really. Don't say I never did anything for you." He turned to leave and stopped at the door. "Oh and Draco?"

Kim giggled quietly as Draco squeaked, "Y-yes?"

"If you are going to have sex in a house where other people reside, lock the door." Lucius calmly walked away but slammed the door behind him, cringing when he heard his daughter-in-law laughing loudly while his son was too embarrassed for words.

* * *

Kim was in a good mood at breakfast, mostly because Draco was still too mortified to look his father in the eye. She hummed to herself as she ate her cereal. "So Lucy?" Lucius scowled and chose to ignore her. Narcissa hid her laughter behind her napkin. "Can I come to your negotiations today?"

Lucius was appalled at the thought. Black was going to give him enough trouble as it is, and he didn't need her to add to it. "No. You don't need the stress."

Kim sighed sadly. "Fine. I was going to warn you but…"

Rolling his eyes, Lucius thought she was talking about Black's behavior and grabbed the salt to sprinkle it on his eggs. The second he tipped the shaker over, its entire contents spilled on his plate. "Oh for Merlin's sake!" he snarled as he jumped out of his seat. "You little—"

"But Lucius, I don't need the stress!" Kim said worriedly as she put her hands over her stomach. Narcissa threw her head back and laughed while Draco covered his mouth with his hand to hide his smile.

Breathing heavily, Lucius growled out, "What the bloody hell do you want?"

Kim yawned, stretched, and took a sip of pumpkin juice before answering him. "I wanted to negotiate with you."

"What. Do. You. Want?" Lucius somehow managed to ground out when all he really wanted to do was scream at the girl until she swore to be quiet and polite.

Kim tapped her fingers on the table. "Draco likes it here," she finally said, ignoring the perplexed look her husband gave her. "So I'm willing to stay here until my birthday, if I can have dinner at Grimmauld every night. And when we go back, I'm willing to stay here before and after the full moon until Remus feels better after the babies are born. Their crying will keep him up."

Lucius narrowed his eyes. That sounded too easy. "And what to you want in return?"

"You don't have to," Draco began but Kim cut him off.

"I want to pick the first name of one of the babies and the middle name of the other," she said more to Draco than to Lucius. "I want to give the smaller one his or her first name."

"And what preposterous names do you have in mind?" Lucius spat. No grandchild of his would be named such plebian names as John or Sue. He was partial to the name Hyperion himself.

"None of your business!" Kim shot back. The smaller one's first name will be something in honor of Remus and Sirius while the bigger one's middle name would be Cho for a girl and Harry for a boy.

Narcissa giggled. "She wouldn't pick anything terrible, Lucius. Draco wouldn't let her name their child Dobby or something silly."

"I wouldn't do that," Kim mumbled irritably.

Lucius threw his hands up in the air in defeat and sat down. Draco turned to Kim. "You aren't seriously thinking of naming one of them Ron Jr., right?" Lucius gave his wife a dirty look, but she waved him off, still smiling.

"No," Kim pouted. "I need to think about it."

Draco fiddled with his napkin. He really did like living here so much better, but he knew the Kim liked Grimmauld more, when everyone wasn't fighting that is. If he agreed to this, he would get to go home a week every month. "If the name is terrible, I won't agree."

Kim looked at him as if he were a fool. "I'm going to be the one thinking of it. How can it be terrible?"

Draco shook his head, resisting the urge to roll his eyes, and held out his hand. "It's a deal."

* * *

Lucius took a deep breath as he flooed over to Grimmauld that evening. He vaguely wondered if he should put on a long term shielding charm as the bright green flames died down. Potter was waiting for him as he stepped out of the fireplace. The boy seemed to be contemplating how to hex him before anyone else discovered his presence, so Lucius could only imagine what Black was thinking right now.

"When is she coming back?" the boy demanded, fists clenched and back as straight as a pole.

"Your birthday," Lucius stated, only sounding brave because he was close to the floo and could escape within seconds. The last time he had contact with the boy, Potter had used an Unforgivable on him. "But starting tomorrow, she will be over for dinner every day until then."

Potter mauled this over as if he were deciding Lucius's fate. Lucius wanted to roll his eyes but found himself slightly afraid of the boy. He grew up without family and panicked when he thought it was going to be taken away. That much was made clear at the Department of Mysteries. Finally, Potter spoke. "Fine," he growled in defeat before stomping off.

Wishing that Narcissa came with him, Lucius entered the kitchen to find everyone clearing their dinner plates away. The sink was washing them on their own accord, and most of the children had already hurried off. The Weasley twins caught his eye and smirked, deciding to announce his presence.

"Ah! There he is." George beamed proudly as if Lucius was a returning hero from a gruesome battle.

Fred pretended to flick a tear away from his eye. "We-we've missed him so!"

George pulled Fred into a side hug. "Now we can finally tell him how much we appreciate him, what he exactly means to our ever expanding family."

"Fred! George!" Molly yelled in exasperation, throwing a dish towel on the table. "Upstairs, both of you! He has come over to negotiate a compromise! Do you want him to leave and not come back for weeks?"

The Weasley twins looked devastated at the thought. "_Weeks?_" Fred asked, putting a hand over his heart, swaying slightly as if Lucius leaving would cause him to faint. "We wouldn't last without seeing Lucius for weeks!"

Molly picked up the wet dish towel and whacked him on the arm. "Go!" she yelled halfheartedly. "Before I really give you something to faint about."

"Thank you, Molly." Remus's lips twitched with effort not to smile. "And I am sure Lucius is too nervous to thank you as well."

Lucius flinched. "Thank you, Molly. I get enough of that at home."

"And you deserve it," Sirius muttered bitterly, watching Lucius as if he were a dog, and Lucius was a poor defenseless chipmunk.

"Sirius, Lucius is here to talk about bringing her home," Remus reminded him, gently. Black growled and pulled his chair out to sit and continue to give Lucius his predatory stare.

Lucius shuddered, biting back a comment on how spoiled his daughter-in-law was. "I have the conditions, and she adjusted them, in my favor actually."

Remus raised his eyebrows, eyes twinkling in amusement. Even Black seemed interested. "Really? And what did she want in return?"

Lucius tried to choke back his revulsion and was sure he resembled someone who had just eaten something terrible tasting as he slowly sat down. "She wants to pick the first name of one child and the middle of the other. My son foolishly agreed this morning. She is going to pick a simple name, I'm sure of it. Just to spite me."

Sirius glared at him, thinking of what Lucius considered simple. Harry, James, Lily's middle name Elaine. "There's nothing wrong with simple!" he snapped. "Why? What kind of mouthful were you planning in your rotten little head? Serpens Auriga? Aquila Cassiopeia?"

Arthur snorted. "I guess we'll see when Draco names the other, Sirius. Cassiopeia is a nice name actually. But Serpens is a little too much."

Lucius felt his face heat up. He was actually trying to influence he son to name one of them Hyperion or Cepheus, after Narcissa's father. "Narcissa was rather fond of Phoenix, given the protection the Order has given our son. But she didn't want to influence _their_ decision. Kimberly took over, like she always does."

"Like she always does?" Sirius repeated incredulously. "You won't let her leave the house, Malfoy. You had a hissy fit at the Department of Mysteries and used the Cruciatus Curse on her! Don't give me that shit, Lucius! You're just sore because she isn't letting _you_ take over without a fight!"

"She's not fighting back! She's trying to drive me into an early grave! She replaced all my underwear with thongs this morning!" Lucius shot back, blushing when he realized what he just admitted. Molly giggled and tried to hide it behind a dish towel.

Remus struggled not to laugh, only letting a few escape. "Alright, Lucius. What the terms?"

Lucius closed his eyes and took a deep breath again before dealing with the in-laws that his son gave him. He started with the obvious. "My son will be respected, as will my wife and I. If he is uncomfortable living here, we will be gone within the hour." He paused, daring anyone to argue. "We will return on the thirty first. Kimberly is allowed to come over for dinner every night until then. We will go home on the full moon—"

"Why?" Sirius snapped, wanting to reach over and squeeze Lucius's throat. "Remus takes Wolfsbane, and I still put up wards in the basement so—"

"It's only for one night," Remus said quietly. "And it is better this way. Something can always go wrong."

"It's unnecessary and unfair to you!" What was really bothering Sirius was the fact that he had to worry about them coming back after every full moon. Malfoy could just decide to never let Kim come back next month.

"I'll survive," Remus insisted. "Then I wouldn't have to worry—"

"You haven't had to worry!" Sirius yelled. "Do you really think I would fuck up the wards? And what are the odds that would happen the same night the Wolfsbane is botched. Snape never messed it up, Remus! It's the one thing he's good for!"

"Kimberly agreed to it," Lucius said before Lupin could respond. "And she said that after the children are born, that we will stay at the Manor a week, so Lupin can properly rest."

Sirius begrudgingly agreed with the rest part, even though Remus looked a little hurt. "They can use silencing charms in the nursery," Sirius mumbled since he was sure that was what Remus would have said if he wasn't currently wondering if Kim thought he was too dangerous. "And Kim knows that, so I don't know what she's trying to pull, but I'm going to have a long talk with her tomorrow—"

"She said it because she knows that my son is more comfortable in his own home than with a bunch of people who dislike him and are angry with them for Kimberly's current situation," Lucius said in a clipped tone, not wanting to give away that he was a little proud of her for thinking of his son.

"I-I would never purposely…" Lupin was unsure whether to believe him and feel relieved or cling to his self-loathing nature and believe that his goddaughter thought him to be a bloodthirsty wild animal.

"Get over yourself, Lupin," Lucius drawled, wondering how Black could put up with this. "The girl practically worships you. Not a day goes by where she doesn't say to me, 'Remus would do this' or 'Remus would never…' It is rather difficult to be constantly compared to you, who never does wrong in her eyes. At dinner she told me that I should be less harsh when I came over. 'Remus always smiles unless you're in big trouble,' she said. If she wasn't pregnant, I would have shipped her to you folded up in a small box by now."

"Don't talk to him like that!" Black roared, looking a little confused by his own reaction since Lucius had started off insulting Lupin and then praised him. Lupin seemed torn between blushing and making his face blank with numbed shock. He opted to cast his eyes at the table instead.

Lucius rolled his eyes. "Do you agree or not? Because I will not budge with any of the terms. Oh, and the birth will take place at the Manor. And you all will move in for a little while after the New Year." That last part almost hurt for him to say. Why couldn't his son try to push them away as revenge like a normal person?

Remus and Sirius stared at each other, silently communicating. Sirius flexed and unflexed his fingers, itching to rip Lucius's skin off. Finally, he sighed, got out of his seat, and slammed his chair into the table before stomping off. Remus gave Lucius a strained smile. "We agree."

* * *

Harry and Ron ripped their Extendable Ears off as soon as they heard Sirius start to storm off and bolted into their room. Ron laughed as soon as the fear of getting caught wore off. "It's going to be weird, going to Hogwarts and not having her annoy the hell out of me."

Tossing his Extendable Ear on his nightstand, Harry nodded. "Sirius said we can stop by on the weekends when we aren't too busy, but it won't be the same."

Ron snickered. "I hear Hermione now." He made his voice high pitched. "We are NEWTs students now, boys. We simply do not have the time! I'm sure Kim will understand."

Harry smirked and sat on his bed. "She's going to be in a dead faint on August first when we get our scores back."

Ron flinched. "Remember when she was put out second year, because there were no finals? I think I'd rather hang with Malfoy and learn how to put nappies on dolls than spend all weekend studying."

"I'm sure Malfoy will enjoy the company." Harry shook his head at the mental image of Ron and Malfoy playing with baby dolls together.

"Hmmm…" Ron nodded and chewed on his lip, suddenly becoming uncomfortable. Harry waited patiently for him to say what was on his mind until Ron blurted out, "Are you and Luna still together?"

Harry winced, knowing this conversation was coming. "Yeah. We write every day, Ron. I don't think her dad would appreciate her coming over all summer so we can snog."

Again, Ron nodded, suddenly very interested in his Chudley Cannon's poster. "That's good. It's just…I see the way you and Ginny look at each other. She can't—"

"I know." Harry sighed. That's what he told himself when he felt torn between Ginny and Luna. "We talked about it. She's not ready to be with anyone, let alone me. I…She was brainwashed into having sex with a murderous evil snake man who is about five times her age. I-I feel guilty when I even look at her, admire her smile, her—"

"Whoa, whoa!" Ron waved his hands in front of him. "I'm not asking for details, mate. I was just making sure you were going to give her some space."

Harry studied his shoes. When he met Ron's eye again, he smiled sadly. "I'm trying. It will be easier at school, once classes start."

"And I have to worry about keeping the _other_ guys away from her." Ron narrowed his eyes at the thought. No one at school knew what was really going on with Ginny. "Fred and George graduated, so it's up to me to make sure no one tries anything."

Harry chuckled. "Need any help?"

Ron smirked. "I don't know. You did let Malfoy get your own sister up the duff. You can start off as a probationary intern."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Alright Deputy, I'll do my best. I'll just have to be extra cautious and hex anyone who even walks up to Ginny. Even first years asking for directions."

* * *

Kim scowled as she started getting ready for bed. It was times like this that she wished she had her own room to sulk in. Lucius had brought home their wedding gifts once he returned to say everything went well. She was too tired to want to bother with them, but Narcissa wanted to see what everyone gave them. As she thought, it was mostly baby stuff to the point that she declared her favorite gift was from Cole, who got them a microwave, which she was sure was his way to try to stand out and be funny.

She appreciated all the gifts. They were cute and all that good stuff, but she was started to get tired of everything being about the babies. She just wanted a day or a few hours even, where she didn't have to talk about them. It made her actually look forward to doing her homework, even though that wasn't entirely an escape because Draco constantly asked if she was getting tired or hungry or thirsty or if she was getting too stressed out. She knew her birthday was going to pan out the same way and didn't know how to express her feelings without coming off as a selfish brat.

Draco only made her mood worse when he came out of the bathroom and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You'll just pass the sixteen week mark when we go back." He kissed her shoulder, which was bare because she was wearing one of Dudley's old shirts.

Kim glared at the ceiling and shrugged him off. "I'm going to kill you!" she hissed.

Draco blinked in confusion. "Why now?" he asked, starting to get used to her moods and barely fazed. "I convinced Dad to let you show the house elves how to use the microwave."

Kim spun around, narrowing her eyes at him. "_Because _I'm tired of being the incubator!"

Draco putting his hands behind his head, resisting the urge to pull out his hair. "You keep saying that, but I have no idea what you're talking about, and my parents don't either! What the bloody hell is an incubator?"

Kim grabbed his shoulders and squeezed, wanting to push him. "It's a _machine._ When babies are born too early, they're sick. So, Muggles put them in the incubator to keep them healthy. It controls the oxygen levels, the temperature, and humidity, stuff like that. It's like an artificial womb, you dick!"

Draco stared at her until it dawned on him what she had been saying all week. "I'm sorry that you feel that way. I didn't mean to make you feel like…an incubator. I love you."

Kim glared at him. "It's constantly nonstop baby talk. They'll need constant attention once they get here. I'd like a break from them once and a while while we still can."

Draco felt anger well up in him at what she just said. "Maybe I constantly talk about them because I'm getting excited for them. When are you? I keep hoping that you are going to show more affection towards them and be more involved than just going along with whatever we're talking about, but I can see that's not going to happen any time soon."

Kim became as still as a statue, suddenly feeling sick because he was telling the truth. And there was no one she felt comfortable talking about it with. Her eyes filled with tears. "I'm sleeping in the guest room next door."

Draco's shoulders slumped. "Kim…"

"Leave me alone," she muttered as she walked off.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Not to worry! Kim and Draco will make up next chapter with pizza and gummy worms! :) Please review!**


	5. Get Togethers

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 5

Narcissa smiled into her tea as her husband watched the microwave distrustfully. "Is everything alright?" she asked Draco, who was glaring at his porridge. "Mopsy asked Lucius half an hour ago to teach you how to be a better husband while she was bringing Kim breakfast."

"The nerve of that elf," Lucius muttered, never taking his eyes of the microwave, too preoccupied with the thought that it was going to blow up at any moment to punish the house elf.

Draco sighed tiredly. Lessons with Severus in an hour were going to be a delight. "She explained to me what an incubator was, and we fought."

Lucius finally tore his eyes away from the microwave. "I finally looked it up last night. Something to do with chicken eggs?"

Draco would have laughed if he wasn't in a bad mood. "It's a Muggle machine for premature babies apparently. Like a fake womb that helps them live outside the mother when they aren't ready yet." He winced at the shocked look on his parents face. He shouldn't have said that.

Narcissa gave him a tight smile as his father turned green. "I-I get what she was trying to say now."

"They…" Lucius gulped while Draco wanted to kick himself. He really should have kept his mouth shut and said that Kim was being a brat, which she was. "The Muggles could have saved my Lyra?"

Narcissa tried to ignore Lucius and forced her smile a little wider. "Never mind, sweetheart. Abraxas made me feel the same way with you. She probably didn't know how to express herself properly."

Lucius pushed his plate away. Maybe if he wasn't so biased against Muggles, he would have thought to go to a Muggle Hospital when his daughter was dying. "I'm talking to that healer today. I want to know what she was talking about. If it's true, those machines will be in St. Mungo's by the end of the year!"

"Let him go," Narcissa said softly as Draco watched Lucius hurry off. "He'll feel better once he does that. Before you were born, he was beginning to think the Malfoy's were cursed. Then he focused on spoiling you rotten." She rested her chin in her hands. "So what happened?"

Draco made a noise of frustration and rolled his eyes, quickly explaining what he and Kim had said to each other. "I mean, I don't get it. One day she says she's picking the names, and the next she's acting like a child who's afraid the new baby will take all the attention away. Hell, they weren't even different days!"

Narcissa smiled sadly. "I think she's torn. Sometimes she comes to terms and embraces the future, and other times she wants everything to go back to normal. She isn't still blaming you, is she?"

"No," Draco muttered, actually surprised she didn't go there last night. "But at this point I'd rather her be naïve and ridiculously excited. What if she doesn't love them?"

"Then we'll treat her for postpartum depression." Narcissa leaned over the table and cupped her son's cheek, rubbing her thumb over it in affection. "She still has a long way to go. Here's what you're going to do. At lunch, you're going to take her to the ballroom and act like you two are going on a date. I'll firecall Severus and tell him to stuff it."

"Mum!" Draco exclaimed. No one talked to Severus Snape like that and lived to tell the tale. Not even Slytherins.

Narcissa giggled. "Not to worry, darling. He knows better than to yell at me."

* * *

Draco wished his mum had stuck to the plan of talking to Kim as he tentatively knocked on her door. Either she was going to flip out on him or be too busy doing something weird to be mad at him. Since she ignored his knock, Draco winced as he opened his door to find her doing the latter. "What the hell?"

Kim looked up from the current page she was writing all over. Her eyes only flickered to his for a brief moment. "Is Snape here?"

"No…" Draco stared at her ink smudged hands. There was parchment everywhere. "What…what exactly are you doing?"

"You say I'm not involved enough, so I'm getting involved!" She stuck her nose up in the air. "I need to think of the perfect name!"

Draco picked up a scrap of parchment, scanning through what was legible. "There's no way I'm letting you name my son Beowulf! Or my daughter Syramus."

Kim sighed impatiently. "That's the Reject Pile. Do you think just Wulf is bad?"

Draco pinched the bridge of his nose. "Can you try looking at constellations or stars? It's a family tradition. Or even flowers like our mothers. That's hard to mess up."

"Larkspur? Snapdragon?" Kim giggled when he glared at her. "You know, going to bed angry isn't so bad. I felt loads better when I woke up. Especially since Mopsy woke me up with apple pancakes."

Smiling, Draco crawled into bed next to her, careful to avoid the ink stains on the sheets. "And here I was worried about you and trying to figure out how to knock some sense into your head without blowing my own top off."

Kim pursed her lips as she watched him scan through her lists and make noises of disapproval. She wasn't sure how to respond to that. She thought she was right, and he thought she was being resentful and selfish. She did get involved! With the names! _And that's about it_, she thought guiltily. "I'll try to be nicer…And other stuff too."

Draco frowned, not sure what he should say to that. "I'll try not to treat you like a machine that I didn't even know existed."

Kim grinned. "So you'll let me drink coffee again?"

"Caffeine is a drug!" Draco shook his head as she pouted. "And you went nuts when you drank coffee before. I don't know if my father could handle it."

"Remus would just tell me to calm down," she grumbled. "Caffeine's okay once and a while. I won't drink the whole pot."

Rolling his eyes, Draco leaned over and kissed her sweetly. "Meet me in the ballroom at noon. Dippy will show you where it is. Mum promised she'd get us the day off."

Kim looked back at her lists, trying to hide her glee. "Go then! I'm busy."

* * *

Pansy smiled sadly when Blaise met her for lunch in Knockturn Alley. For the first time in years, her mother made her spend summer at home, and the constant pressure to take the Mark was driving her crazy. Just one more year until she was of age and could run off with Blaise. Screw her inheritance. Soon she would finally be happy. "How'd your visit with Draco go?"

He paled, causing Pansy's smile to falter into a suspicious frown. "G-great. His dad broke out of prison. I-I guess Fudge managed to keep it out of the press."

Pansy hummed, only vaguely surprised. Her mother was ranting and raving about how Lucius and Narcissa were a couple of traitors the other night. "So I guess it was weird seeing him so weak from Azkaban?"

Blaise immediately jumped at that, hating that he had to lie, considering that Lucius hadn't come home until after he had left. "Yeah! He was so tired that he barely moved at dinner. He even went to bed before the pudding."

Pansy raised an eyebrow. "Did he say anything about Kim? There are rumors that Lucius killed her. No one has seen or heard from anyone since Potter nearly strangled Draco later that day."

"She-she's fine." Blaise blushed, wishing he could say more. "You know. He never stops talking about her."

"What did he say?" Pansy asked, hoping that Blaise wasn't keeping things from her. She really needed him right now.

"Uh…" Blaise gulped. He promised not to tell. It's not his secret to tell! Maybe if he gave her a hint…Told her but didn't tell her at the same time. It wouldn't be his fault if she figured it out. "He said…She's blossoming."

Pansy stared at him like he was an idiot. "_Blossoming?_"

Blaise nodded fervently. "Like a flower."

Pansy continued to stare as she looked at him expectantly. "You and Draco are idiots, Blaise."

Blaise leaned forward. "Draco's the idiot. That's the problem."

Pansy sighed. "I'm too stressed out to really think about whatever's making you so weird today. I have to go to another summer ball. Rumor has it that _He_ will be there." Blaise felt the color drain from his face as he grabbed her hand. "I hope-He isn't going to be there to talk to me, but I know my mother is going to try to introduce us. I hope He doesn't think I'm worth the time. He has a new recruit and wants to talk to whoever it is."

"Let's just hope it's not you," Blaise ground out through gritted teeth. "I don't see why you can't stay with me this summer."

"Because…" Pansy took her hand out of his and rubbed her bloodshot eyes. She could barely sleep through the night these days. "My parents won't let us live together if we aren't married, and they would never let that happen because your mother is neutral in this 'war' as they're calling it."

Blaise shook his head slightly and clucked in disapproval. "My mother likes to mind her own business."

Pansy smirked, deciding to change the subject for now. "And lately, her business is all about Theo's dad."

"Merlin!" Blaise tried to force the concern out of his eyes. Pansy had met up with him to take a break from all this stress. He shouldn't force her to talk about it. "Imagine waking up, heading to breakfast, and hearing an old man calling your mother his 'sweet little dumpling'. It-it is _bizarre _to say the least! The tabloids call my mother The Black Widow! Now she's Mr. Nott's sweet little dumpling."

Pansy giggled. "Don't worry, Blaise. You'll always be your mother's sweet little dumpling!" She smiled at his scowl. "And mine too."

Blaise couldn't help but laugh. "Pans! When did you get so love sick and dorky?"

Pansy snickered and grabbed his hand, squeezing it almost painfully. "I guess when I dumped Drakey Poo for my tall, dark, and handsome, broody man."

"Broody?" Blaise scoffed. "I am the most fun-loving bloke you will ever meet! I threw that wicked party last fall, didn't I?"

"Ah yes the hangover was legendary." Pansy rolled her eyes. "But I want you to know, Blaise, that whatever happens, whatever I get stuck doing…Remember that I love you and nothing will ever change that."

"I love you too." Blaise looked around to see if anyone was listing in the dreary old restaurant they were stuck sneaking around in. "I won't let anything happen to you. Take the Mark, do whatever it takes to make them leave you alone. Then, I'll get you to a save place." _Even if I have to blackmail the Order to do it,_ Blaise thought darkly.

Pansy's eyes filled with tears. "Promise you'll protect me?"

"I will," Blaise swore. No matter what it took, he would make sure that nothing happened to her.

* * *

Kim could barely contain her glee as Mopsy led her to the ballroom. She grinned so broadly her face hurt. "How'd you pull this off?"

"Turns out all the house elves are obsessed with you." Draco kissed her cheek as he led her to the small round table in the middle of the ballroom and pulled out her chair. "They were more than willing to do whatever it took to make you happy."

Kim felt her eyes dance as her eyes scanned the little table. It was full of everything that Lucius banned from the house. Coffee, candy, soda, … "You're willing to eat gummy worms and greasy pizza for lunch?"

"I may vomit at the end of the meal." Draco grimaced, knowing that he was going to have to dab his pizza with a napkin. He wasn't planning on touching the sweets, and he was going to have to settle for coffee instead of soda. "But yes."

"The house elves really like me?" she asked shyly as she poured herself some cola.

Draco could barely keep the surprise off his face. "Why would you even ask that? You're the one who's always bragging that you're their queen. I thought it was just the female ones, but even the grumpy old man, Zip, was willing to disobey my father and somehow order the pizza. He's the only one who can disguise himself as a Muggle."

"I thought…" Kim smiled. "I thought it was only because of the babies. So it surprised me that they would get me this stuff." She bit a gummy grimacing slightly. "You got sour ones."

"So?" Draco hoped she wasn't going to do anything disgusting. It was bad enough that he had to eat all this crap. Luckily his father had disappeared for the day.

"Soooo…" Suddenly she perked up, and Draco fought the urge to close his eyes. "Never mind, I can fix it."

"Fix what?" Draco quickly looked away as she grabbed a piece of pizza, lifted the cheese up, and put a gummy worm under it. "Oh God! Why'd you have to do that?"

Kim took a bite and grinned, making him shudder. "'Cause it's good! That's why!"

"Right." Draco warily took a slice of pizza and placed his napkin over it. He tried not to pay attention to the fact that when he lifted his cloth napkin, the side that was one the pizza was instantly soaked. "You're lucky I love you."

"No," Kim corrected arrogantly. "You're lucky I love _you_. I can be pretty horrible to people I hate."

Draco cocked his head to the side with an expression saying that he must have misheard. "Really? I haven't noticed. I never would've thought... I mean, Father did grumble once and a while, but I never believed him."

Kim took a sip of her soda to hide her smile. "I don't _hate_ him." She picked up Bertie Bott's Every Bean and flung it at him. "I just don't like him because he doesn't like me. If he thought I was wonderful like everyone else does, we'd get along just fine."

"I'll be sure to pass on the message," Draco joked as he pegged the bean back at her.

* * *

Kim was in good spirits by dinner time when she was heading to Grimmauld for the first time since she made up with Sirius. That is, until she made the passage through the floo. Harry was waiting for her with Ron at the fireplace and tried to hide his amusement when she emerged, face green and ready to curse the inventors of floo to a horrible fate. Instead, she threw herself onto the nearest couch and muttered, "I regret nothing."

"Really?" Ron smirked. "Because Mum is planning on stuffing you to the brim tonight."

Kim put her face in her hands. "She'll understand."

"I don't know." Harry sat next to her and Ron next to him. "She even skipped the Order meeting so she could get a head start on your Welcome Home Dinner."

"Oh God! It has a title," Kim moaned. "It has to be big if it has a title!"

Harry glanced at his watch, letting out a small laugh. "You have about twenty minutes to get over your floo sickness."

Kim sat up and pouted. "It's Floo, Candy, Pizza, Soda, Coffee Sickness...with maybe a little bit of pregnancy sickness."

"Merlin, what did Malfoy do now?" Ron wondered as Sirius kicked open the door, looking suspicious. Harry raised his eyebrows and pointed to Sirius's ear, which still had an Extendable Ear attached to it. Sirius flushed and ripped it off.

Kim leaned over and gave Ron her middle finger. "It's called a date, Ron. Ever heard of one?"

Ron made a face of disgust. Even he wouldn't eat like that, even before his stomach was ruined. Sure, he would eat that amount, just not that combination. "Glad I don't have a girlfriend then."

"If only Fred and George had heard that," Harry teased.

Sirius shoved his Extendable Ear in his pocket. "Don't distract them. I asked them to blow up the floo tonight."

Kim rose gingerly from her seat. "Sirius, you're lucky I have to go barf greasy rainbows right now. Since when are you a snoop? You don't even have anything to snoop right now!"

"There's always something to snoop in a house full of teenagers," Sirius said darkly, making Harry wonder if Sirius had started reading _Witch Weekly _or something similar. After this past school year, what could there possibly be to hide?

Of course, Mrs. Weasley started fretting when Kim only nibbled at her food at dinner. "Are you alright, sweetheart? You look a little pale." She leaned over to feel her forehead while Kim scowled at everyone trying to hide their laughter. "Houses like that can get awfully cold. Are you warm enough at night? Are they kind to you? Are they feeding you enough?"

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley." Kim sighed. "But Lucius ran off today for some reason, so Draco let me go a little crazy."

"Crazy how?" Sirius snapped while Remus rolled his eyes.

Harry smirked. "Crazy enough to have to vomit greasy rainbows, apparently."

"I couldn't help it!" Kim whined. "I've been eating like a rabbit for nearly a week. Well, a rabbit who eats meat and eggs, that is. And there was even coffee!"

Remus smiled softly. "I'm afraid that has to be the case at home too. Even though we are really glad to have you back."

"Though we would like you back more than three weeks out of every month," Sirius added bitterly.

Kim fidgeted guiltily, not seeing the dark look that Remus gave him. "I wanted to pick a name without having a book of constellations thrown at me!"

"Don't feel pressured," Mrs. Weasley lectured. "Arthur's mother wanted me to name Ginny Gertrude. She wouldn't talk to me for two weeks when I refused, but she got over it."

Ginny groaned. "Don't say it!"

"Say what, Gin-Gin?" Fred asked innocently.

"I think you mean Gerty, Fred," George said cheerfully, ignoring Ginny's death glare.

"Gertrude's not that bad," Ron commented much to everyone's surprised. Then he snickered. "But I think Ginny looks more like a Trudy than a Gerty."

Kim frowned as she mixed up her corn and potatoes and Ginny started threatening her brothers, trying to think of anyone she knew who looked like a Gertrude. "I have a boy's name picked out, but I'm stuck with a girl's. So don't be surprised if you see a Harriet running around in a few years."

Harry started choking on his food until Ginny thumped him on the back. He swallowed and looked at Kim fearfully. "Please don't."

Kim grinned. "It's so happening."

"Please don't," Harry repeated for the sake of his poor possible niece.

"There is nothing wrong with Harriett," she sniffed but then smiled once more. "I'm sure Draco will _love_ it."

* * *

Hermione couldn't help but be nervous as she waited for Cedric to come by her house for lunch. He was her first serious boyfriend, and her dad was still a little on edge after he thought that book for Kim was for her. Her mum thought her dad was being cute and funny, but Hermione couldn't help but feel humiliated when he asked (yelled) who took advantage of her at the book store.

Her mother laughed quietly to herself as she was putting the finishing touches on the sandwiches. "Well, Hermione, I think your father is being rather nice since he is about to meet your boyfriend who is fresh out of prison!"

Hermione felt her cheeks heat up. "Mum! He's innocent! And I was in the club too, so if he did commit a crime, I committed it too!"

"Maybe he's a bad influence," Dad growled. Since her back was turned, Hermione didn't she him wink to his wife to signal that he was pulling his daughter's leg.

"Dad!" Hermione groaned. Hopefully Cedric would understand. "Please be nice! I really like him."

Mr. Granger was glad that Hermione didn't turn around because it was in possible to hide the smile on his face. "I don't know Hermione. Your boyfriend's an escape convict, one of your best friends has a murderer after him, one of the others is pregnant with twins and her boyfriend steals jewelry from his mum. What kind of people are you hanging around with? What else are you not telling us?"

_Plenty,_ Hermione thought to herself as she turned around. "It's not funny, Dad!" she said with relief once she saw the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "Cedric was really sick when he first came home! It took him forever to get used to eating properly! Don't embarrass him!"

Mr. Granger kissed the top of his daughter's head. "Wouldn't dream of it, sweetheart."

Hermione was glad to see that Cedric didn't look nearly as bad as Sirius when he broke out of Azkaban. He had lost a significant amount of weight, but didn't look like a skeleton, and his eyes still had light in them. He smiled charmingly when he shook her father's hand. "Hello, Mr. Granger." He nodded politely to her mother. "Mrs. Granger."

Jean smiled kindly. "Hello. Hermione's told us all about you. Only the good stuff, of course. She turned so red when she let your predicament slip out."

Hermione felt herself turn just as red as she had in the book store. "Mum!" she hissed.

But Cedric only laughed. "The only bad thing I can say about Hermione is that she's a book junkie. And that's not really bad."

"Tell that to my credit card," William Granger muttered, making Hermione thin her lips to keep from yelling at him.

Sensing her daughter's embarrassment, Jean smiled and gestured to the dining room. "What do you like to drink during lunch, Cedric? Hermione made lemonade but always adds too much lemon for my liking. We have milk, juice, and water. We prefer not to keep soda in the house."

Cedric's lips twitched as Hermione flushed with further humiliation. "Lemonade will be fine, Mrs. Granger."

Jean waved him off. "Oh please, call me, Jean." She whacked her husband playfully on the shoulder before he could make a cliché joke. "And call him Will, no matter what he says."

Lunch went well after that. Hermione was glad to say that her dad didn't make one lame prison joke and didn't comment on the fact that once Cedric's name was cleared that he would have to repeat his seventh year for the third time. They stuck to safe topics like if Cedric had ever seen a movie or what kind of music he was interested in. Hermione was surprised to hear that Cedric wanted to be a professional Quidditch player and joked that perhaps he and Ron could turn the Chudley Cannons around.

After lunch, Hermione's parents gave them a few minutes alone before Cedric had to apparate home. She knew full well that her parents were spying on her through the kitchen door but decided that it was best not to tell Cedric. She grabbed his hand. "I'm going to miss you. We never get to see each other."

"We can write." Cedric stole a quick kiss. "I'm hoping that the Ministry is going to clear me soon."

Hermione leaned over and hugged him, resting her chin on his shoulder. "Fudge is trying to avoid scandal. Skeeter has been writing about how corrupt Umbridge was in the papers. But you should take some time to recover before you return to Hogwarts."

Cedric pulled away and laughed nervously, trying to cover up his shame. "By the time I get back to school, you'll have caught up to me."

Hermione smiled. "There's nothing wrong with that. We can study together."

"And graduate together." Cedric brightened up at the thought but couldn't help but be embarrassed over the fact that some of his former classmates were already getting started on their careers. He tried to push those feelings away and focus on his future with Hermione.

"And then, the Cannon's will be lucky to have you." Hermione stood on her tip toes and kissed him sweetly. "Don't feel so bad. Just think, you get extra time to prepare for your N.E.W.T.s!"

Cedric groaned, pretending to dread it. "I think I'll wait until you force-I mean help me with studying." He winked. "Or I wait until I can help you force everyone to study."

Hermione smirked. "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

Now that she wasn't on lock down, the weeks until her birthday flew by. Kim's little soccer ball was quickly becoming a basketball, much to her chagrin and Draco's delight. She had tried wearing Harry's old shirts full time for a few days but couldn't stand how they hung about her shoulders. And so, Kim pouted for a day or so as she went back to maternity clothes. She didn't care what anyone said. It wasn't fun needing special pants because her stomach was getting too big for normal ones.

Kim almost felt nervous about going back to Grimmauld. Maybe she shouldn't have returned during her birthday party and taken a day to settle in. Hopefully it wouldn't be too crazy since last night was the full moon, which was Lucius's reason why they couldn't go back go back last night and have a good night's sleep first.

"Kim!" Draco waved his hand in front of her face to wake her out of her day dream. "Severus is only giving us an hour to pack because Astronomy is a practical lesson tonight. You can stare at yourself in the mirror later."

"I told him I wanted to drop Astronomy," Kim grumbled as she turned around and put her hands on her hips. "And I was staring at nothing, not the mirror. Thinking and stuff."

"And he told you that you can't drop any classes until you choose a career path." Draco smirked as she pouted. "At least you know that you failed the Defense OWL."

Kim threw her hands in the air. Snape gave too much homework when they had class seven days a week. She was ready to fall asleep by the middle of the day. Hopefully Sirius could put a stop to that. "Fat good that does me! He's still making me learn it with you! And don't bother, I had the house elves pack for us once I got them to stop crying over my-I mean- _our_ departure."

Draco frowned. "So why did you keep whining to him that we needed time to pack?"

Now it was Kim's turn to smirk. "Well it _is _my birthday."

Draco felt his face turn red and his eyes become the size of dinner plates. "He's waiting for us downstairs," he hissed.

Kim gestured to the bed. "Then I guess you better hurry up."

"I.." Draco turned redder and redder while struggling to form words. "We don't know how..."

"Really?" Kim bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at him. "Then who was I having sex with all spring?"

"No." Draco rubbed his face in his hands as if he could rub his blush away. He hurried to his door and locked it, putting up silencing charms before continuing. "I meant without hurting them."

"Right…" Kim let out a small giggle as she sat on their bed. "I'm not leaving until we have sex, so Snape will be looking for us in a little bit…"

Draco nodded awkwardly, not knowing what to say. If he said no, she would flip out on him and be sullen for the rest of the day. He could only imagine what Black would do if he brought her back mad at him. "I just…you're making me nervous."

"I'm nervous too!" she exclaimed, although she looked far from it. "I gained like twenty pounds mostly in one area! So shut up and get over here!"

Draco rolled his eyes but complied. "Could you be any less romantic?"

"Could you be any more of a sissy?" Kim shot back. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Happy Birthday to me!"

* * *

Sirius glared at the floo around five o'clock. Harry was able to distract Sirius with a Quidditch game in the swampy backyard for a few hours, but around dinner time he started pacing at the fireplace. At least Sirius was too worried about Kim coming home to wake him up at the crack of dawn on his birthday like he usually did. Harry was happy to wake up just before eleven.

"I don't get why Snivellus made them have school on her birthday!" Sirius ranted, not seeing everyone else laughing at him. "Slave Driver Snivellus, that's what he is!"

"Says the man with a house elf," Hermione reminded him stiffly.

Sirius stopped his pacing and let out a bitter, bark like laugh. "I'm doing Kreacher a favor. If I freed him, he would die of a heart attack. So don't worry Hermione, I'll free him as soon as the war is over."

Before Hermione could respond, the fireplace lit up with bright green flames, and Kim hopped out with a backpack slung over her shoulder. She narrowed her eyes at Sirius. "Professor Snape said that he gave us school today just to spite you! Can you believe it?"

"I believe it," Remus said tiredly as Kim walked over and hugged him since it was the day after the full moon, and he was too tired to get out of his seat. "He mentioned that you're failing History of Magic."

Kim scowled as the rest of the Malfoys followed her out of the floo. "Because he won't let me drop it!"

"No, I won't let you drop it," Lucius informed her with a smirk. "I want to see how you did on your OWLs before you drop anything. Your results will arrive tomorrow morning."

Hermione became paler than Professor Binns. "What?"

"They had to come sometime, Granger," Draco said gruffly as he tried to hide how nervous the thought of receiving his scores made him as well. He handed Harry his usual box of quills.

Harry tried to smile politely. "I think I have enough quills to take me into the Ice Age. Ow!"

Kim thumped his on the head with her present, which actually hurt since a book. He rubbed the back of his head as he accepted her present. She smiled sweetly. "Don't worry. This one won't be boring like Hermione's."

"Hey!"

"I'm just saying, Hermione, you like stuff with big words and long sentences! By the time I look up all the words in the sentence, I forget what I just read!" Kim huffed while Lucius couldn't help but silently hope that she didn't pass on her limited vocabulary. He would have to make sure his son read to the children every night.

Mrs. Weasley made them eat dinner before further exchanging presents, and Hermione couldn't help but note a few reversed rolls. Ron was only able to eat small amounts while it was pretty obvious that Kim was eating for two, well three. Harry and Ginny were avoiding being too close to each other like Hermione used to be with Ron while she had never felt more comfortable with him. They didn't argue once all night. Sirius and Lucius were acting more like teenagers with their refusal to acknowledge each other, and Harry and Draco were able to have their first decent conversation without throwing a few barbs at each other.

Lucius was ready to bang his head against the wall within an hour of returning to Grimmauld. With the wedding gifts, the girl had a fit that everything except that devilish microwave contraption was for the babies. And so, Narcissa made sure to buy her things that had nothing to do with them like new boots and perfume. His son had given her a beautiful emerald necklace. But now, now that little she-devil couldn't stop crooning over all the baby stuff! Draco was too relieved to care, and Narcissa was absolutely in love with the two little toy brooms Black had bought. Potter couldn't help but laugh at his annoyance.

"I think she does certain things just to mess with you," Potter muttered so only he could hear. "She told Ginny the wedding gifts thing. If you notice, she more obsessed with the rocking chair than the things like teething rings and blocks."

Lucius froze, noting that the boy was right. She put a little Gryffindor onesie over her stomach and looked for his reaction out of the corner of her eye. He saw a glint of joy when she noted his sour expression. "That girl is a criminal mastermind."

Potter laughed softly. "That girl is trying to cover up her hurt feelings over the fact that you don't like her."

Lucius felt his face fall further. He couldn't help the fact that he didn't like her! Perhaps if she stopped pranking him multiple times a day he could muster up neutral feelings and maybe even like her if she showed him some respect. "Narcissa likes her. That should be enough."

Potter shrugged. "You're right. Why would she need approval from a git like you?" Lucius fumed but said nothing. In a way, the boy was right.

Harry had to say that Kim was right. Her book wasn't boring. It was a detailed history of the Potter family. Apparently it was published about two years after their parents died. Harry wondered if Hermione had bought this for him years ago what he would have done. Kim was mentioned in the very last chapter. She told him that Draco stopped her from highlighting her name. But she was wrong when it came to Hermione's book, even though she insisted that it was boring for most people. It was about the Auror Academy, and summarized the classes that most students took and discussed a few electives. Harry could tell that Sirius wasn't too pleased with the Auror idea but was glad that his godfather chose not to comment because being an Auror was the only thing Harry ever thought of doing career wise.

Because of Ginny's warning, Harry bought Kim a dress that she could wear next summer, which she took as personal challenge. She also took Ron's gift of her own chess set as a personal challenge, which Ron was sure to regret by the end of the night. At least she couldn't tackle him to the ground. Well, she would try, of course, but Malfoy would stop her.

Harry was just about to open his gift from Remus and Sirius, which he would later find out was a Marauder's Map version of Hogsmeade, when Dumbledore arrived. His eyes were grim. "I am so sorry to interrupt, but we have a bit of an emergency."

"Is it my dad?" Luna asked fearfully. She didn't like leaving him alone when she could help it. The wrackspurts tended to mess with his mind.

Dumbledore shook his head. "I kept the wards up at Privet Drive all this time and did my best to make it seem like the Dursleys had never left. The entire area is under attack. The aurors are already there. Arabella Figg is at Hogwarts."

Harry frowned as Sirius rose from his seat. "Mrs. Figg?"

"We'll talk about it later, Harry." Sirius turned to Remus. "You stay here. You're too sick."

Harry felt his heart sink. The place was probably swarming with Death Eaters. What if Voldemort took Sirius for real this time? "But—"

"That goes for you too, Harry James." Sirius ruffled Harry's hair, trying to keep his voice light. "I'll be back soon, I promise."

Harry felt helpless as Sirius headed off with Dumbledore, Mad-Eye, Mr. Weasley, and to Mrs. Weasley's dismay, Fred and George. Sirius growled but said nothing when Lucius made to follow him, and Harry thought the only reason was because Narcissa joined them. Hopefully they would be back soon.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	6. Progress

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. **

**A/N: I'm going to try going back to updating Thursday nights for the summer.**

**A/N2: And for those of you who are sick of Kim's bratty angst, this is the last chapter with one of her tantrums. Happy times are to come!**

Chapter 6

The worst part was the waiting. Sirius and everyone else had left around seven, and everyone sat in uneasy silence for hours. Molly went to bed soon after everyone left, preferring to worry in private. Harry felt tiredness burn through his eyes as the clock inched towards midnight and put his face in his hands, half wishing he could fall asleep and wake up to Sirius demanding breakfast.

Once the clock struck midnight, Remus sighed and broke the silence. "Everyone should go to bed," he said hoarsely. "They will have to give statements to the Ministry once everything is settled."

Harry tore his eyes away from the fireplace. Remus must be exhausted. The full moon was just the night before. "I won't be able to sleep…"

Remus frowned, mentally debating. Sirius would want him to tell Harry to go to bed anyway, but Remus didn't really feel right about it. "How about you and Ron and Hermione floo Hogwarts? You can ask Mrs. Figg what happened. I'm sure she would like to see a familiar face."

Harry blinked in surprise. He had expected Remus to either leave him in the parlor to sulk or tell him to go to bed anyway. Usually the Order was very secretive. Hopefully they were, or at least Remus was, finally seeing that he had the right to know what was going on. He looked to his two best friends, who were already out of their seats. "Thanks Remus."

Remus smiled tiredly. "Just don't tell Sirius that I let the three of you floo to Hogwarts unsupervised. He'll most certainly have kittens."

* * *

Sirius was already ready to have kittens when they reached Private Drive. They had apparated from the street outside Number Twelve to where Harry grew up, which was now pretty much in flames. The screams were so loud that Sirius wondered if he would have trouble hearing in the future. There several Dark Marks and even more dead bodies scattered about. He wondered if Harry knew any of these people. They were beyond recognizable now.

The aurors were trying to capture the Death Eaters, who were starting to apparate away. Sirius sent a few stunners in their direction as he scanned the area for any survivors. He heard a groan and felt his heart stop.

There was a little girl near a charred house. Sirius ran over to her just in time to hear her whimper, "Mummy…mummy! My head hurts!"

Sirius bent down, turning his back on the chaos. "Shhh…" He gently tried to lift her up. "Your mummy is just fine." He pretended not to see the three dead bodies next to him. "But I need to fix that tiny cut on your head, darling."

The girl slowly moved her eyes towards him, and Sirius's heart sunk when he saw the light fading fast from them. Suddenly, she looked past him and smiled contently. "Mummy." Sirius did his best to smile back as the little girl died in his arms.

"Watch it, Black!" Before he could gently put the girl down, Lucius pushed him to the ground.

Swearing, Sirius kicked Lucius off him and the girl. "What the fuck, Malfoy?" he spat, feeling a stinging on his hand.

Lucius stood up, wobbling slightly and glared at him. "I just saved your worthless life, Black."

Sirius laid the girl down, trying not to look at her lifeless body as he got off the ground. He looked at his hand, which was hit with the curse. It only looked scraped. "Whatever, Malfoy. Stun as many as you can. And once they're gone, start putting out the fires."

* * *

Harry had to say, he didn't expect to see all of Mrs. Figg's cats playing in Dumbledore's office. He wondered if she ever forgave them for the time she tripped over one and broke her leg. Mrs. Figg looked the same as always, only a little tired as she held her tea cup and stared blankly at the wall. "Er…hello."

Mrs. Figg jumped, spilling cold tea all over herself. Hermione conjured her a towel, and the old woman gave her a ghost of a smile as she dabbed herself dry. "Harry… I'm sorry. I-I always knew this day was coming."

Harry sat in the chair closest to her as a kitten trotted over and started playing with his shoelace. Another one saw a loose string on Ron's pants and jumped on him. Hermione smiled and tried to coax it over to her as Ron swore under his breath. "Is it bad?"

Mrs. Figg shuddered. "There was fire everywhere. I'm not sure if Tom was there."

Harry frowned. Only Dumbledore called Voldemort Tom. "Mrs. Figg…"

"I'm a Squib," she said bluntly. "I…I always knew something was off about him, but-but I let myself believe he was just lonely."

"Voldemort?" Harry asked as Hermione and Ron started playing with the cats to give them a sense of privacy. Ron hissed in pain when on sunk its claws into his finger.

Mrs. Figg nodded, reaching into her pocket to pull out an old handkerchief and dab at her eyes. "When I was young, I used to volunteer at the orphanage where he grew up. I-I'm only five years older than him."

Harry paled. He never thought of Voldemort as a person, not really. Even in second year. He was just as ghost in a diary. "You knew Voldemort…as a _child_?"

Mrs. Figg blew her nose. "When I first met him, he had just finished his first year of Hogwarts. D-Dumbledore asked me to keep him company. My sisters went to Hogwarts, so I knew what it was like to be lonely. I used to talk to him when the other kids were mean to him. That first summer…he would have awful tantrums. He didn't understand why he couldn't stay at Hogwarts during the summer."

"So…" Harry tried his best not to sound accusatory. There was no way Mrs. Figg could have known what Voldemort would become. "So you were friends with him."

Mrs. Figg let out a choked sob. "I thought we were. I-I used to tell him how jealous I was when my sisters would go away to school. How they and their friends used to tease me. And then-and then, during the first War, he killed them! He killed my sisters and their families! And even their friends and their friends' families after he tortured their names out of my youngest sister."

"He…then I don't think he would try to kill you." If anything, Harry thought, it sounded like Voldemort had some kind of sick crush on Mrs. Figg. "I thought he was after me and thought the Dursleys still lived on Private Drive."

Mrs. Figg stared emotionlessly at her tea cup. "Or he just wanted you to think that. Tom is a terrorist. There's no question about it. Killing Muggles is good for Death Eater morale, and he chose a personal location. As far as he knows, you had friends there. He is trying to find a way to break you."

* * *

Kim glared at Draco once they were gone, and Ginny and Luna headed up to bed. She knew he had been itching to tell her to go to bed for an hour. "You should understand! Your parents are out there too!"

Draco looked to Remus for help. "Yes, but you look ready to drop dead. I think you're allowed to take half the dose of a very mild sedative."

"I won't go to sleep until you go to sleep," Remus said before Kim could start yelling and acting like a brat. He didn't like how she was fidgeting uncomfortably. "I can tell you aren't feeling well."

"I'm really getting sick of this." Feeling thoroughly furious, Kim gave both of them dirty looks and stomped up the stairs.

Remus sighed as he stood up, feeling his bones creak and crack. "That went better than I thought. I'll get you the sedative. If you mix it with water, she shouldn't be able to taste it."

Draco reminded silent at first as they headed to the kitchen. "Her resentment is starting to bother me."

Remus raised his eyebrows, surprised that the boy would confide in him. "We need to find a way to establish more of an attachment. That's why I got her the rocking chair…"

"She's just up and down, up and down," Draco muttered, trying not to get angry. "Every time I think she's finally doing better, something happens to make her nasty again."

Remus handed him a pitcher with Kim's glass of water. "The only time I've really seen her want to talk about them is when she's discussing the names. Try to focus on that and slowly ease into other topics."

"Yeah, I guess." But Draco knew that if he said more than a few words to her tonight that they would end up fighting. "But I can't keep doing this after they're born."

Remus sighed sadly. He really hoped it wouldn't come to that. It was times like this when he wished he pushed adoption more. "I know…I will try to talk to her once Sirius returns. Right now…It's hard to think clearly. She picked the room across from Mr. Black's office for the two of you."

Half wanting to go home and sleep by himself, Draco nodded and headed up the stairs. Kim was just leaving the bathroom when he found her, and they walked to their room in silence. Draco handed Kim the glass of water and put the pitcher by her nightstand. She sniffed the glass and frowned but said nothing as she drank it. Half way through, she looked at him sadly and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Draco laid down and covered his face with his hands. "I'm sick of this."

"I shouldn't be so mean to you," she admitted as her eyes filled with tears. "I-I…"

"Am not going to be pregnant forever," Draco snapped, still managing to keep his voice down. "If you're going to act like this after they're born, it's over."

Kim gripped the glass so hard that her knuckles turned white, and she was surprised it didn't break. "I understand," she said quietly even though she was crying. "I wanted to wait for Sirius… I want to be nicer and have more of a connection with them. It's just hard for me, for some reason."

Draco felt like a git for not responding as she cried herself to sleep, but he honestly didn't know what to say to her. He easily had a connection with the twins, even though he always thought he didn't want children. They were his babies, and he saw no reason to resent them for existing. They had support from their family, and money wasn't an issue. His parents and her godfathers wouldn't let them mess up too badly. So why was she so scared?

* * *

After visiting Mrs. Figg, Harry, Ron, and Hermione decided to help Mrs. Weasley make breakfast, even though they knew it wouldn't be touched until everyone returned. Thankfully, they heard someone come through the floo just as Ron was setting the plates down. Harry's heart skipped a beat as he heard Sirius swearing like a sailor.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," Sirius yelled as he stumbled through the floo, clutching his right arm. Harry paled at the sight of him. Luckily Remus was asleep. He was sure the werewolf would have vomited at the sight of Sirius's skinless arm.

"Oh my God!" Mrs. Weasley covered her mouth and ran upstairs to get the healer.

Not even bothering to make his way to the couch, Sirius stumbled a bit more before giving up and sitting on the floor. "Mother fucker…" he gasped out. "There are pain potions in the kitchen…" Hermione scurried off to retrieve them and when she returned, Sirius desperately ripped a bottle out of her hands and chugged it as if his life depended on it. He relaxed but only slightly. "Merlin, that was awful."

Harry sat across from him. "Is everyone…"

Sirius winced. "Alive? Yes. Although George is growing arms by the second, and Lucius Bloody Malfoy saved my life."

Harry tried to smile. "You should have stayed behind and played with cats like we did instead."

Sirius scowled and lifted up his gruesome looking arm. "This would've been my whole body if it wasn't for that bastard. The curse—"

"Needs to hit your torso to work properly," Darwin filled in as he yawned and trudged down the stairs. "A week's worth of salves will fix you right up."

"A week?" Sirius repeated. "I'm going to be skinless for a bloody week?"

Darwin shrugged. "Better than the rest of your life."

George returned shortly after that, once everyone figured out how to get him through the floo. He must have had about ten arms on one side of him and couldn't even stand up. Harry saw another one pop up as he was being ushered up the stairs. "Was it that bad?"

Sirius, who had finally managed to make it to the couch, sipped at another pain potion. "We came just as the Death Eaters were trying to retreat. They panicked and figured killing one of us in a gruesome way would slow us down."

Darwin frowned in concentration as he gently wrapped the salve soaked bandages around Sirius's arm. "I could have saved you, if you were brought to me alive. Granted, you would probably be in a coma for a year or two and be disabled for the rest of your life."

"Somehow I don't find that too comforting," Sirius said dryly.

"Should we wake Remus up?" Harry asked quietly. Earlier this morning, he had stopped by Remus's room to find him tossing and turning but in a deep sleep.

Sirius shook his head, wincing as he rose from his seat. "I don't plan on going anywhere. He probably feels like shit and needs to sleep the day away."

Harry smirked as Sirius slowly walked toward the kitchen. "How could you possibly eat after drinking all of those potions?"

"I'm going to need my strength for thanking Lucius Malfoy," Sirius said tiredly. "I could put away a few pancakes and about five slices of bacon."

Harry shook his head as he followed his godfather into the kitchen, thinking that Mrs. Weasley was going to be forcing food on everyone, and she was. However, he didn't expect to see Hermione staring at a pile of letters on the table as if they were about to jump up and bite her face off.

Ron narrowed his eyes at the letters. "I think I would rather hear about how Sirius was skinned alive…"

"It was a wonderful story," Lucius said cheerfully as he entered the kitchen with his sleepy son and exhausted wife. "Because it ends with Black owing me a life debt."

"Ronald!" Hermione admonished breathlessly, sounding like she was ready to pass out. "We worked an entire school year for this moment!"

"I put a roof over your head and am not pressing charges against your son for forcibly impregnating my daughter," Sirius grumbled, ignoring Hermione's hysterics. "What more could you want?"

"Watch it Black," Lucius warned. "Or you won't be putting a roof over my head for much longer."

"Here," Harry said loudly as he passed out the OWLs results to change the subject. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Draco's shoulders slump in relief. "Hermione's right, Ron. Besides, now we can finally drop Divination."

"The highlight of my day," Ron said with a small smile, holding the envelope as if it held unspeakable horrors.

Harry frowned as Lucius held his hand out for Kim's results. Even Draco looked annoyed. Sirius scowled but was too exhausted to really argue, so Harry decided to keep the peace and hand Lucius the envelope.

Draco groaned. "Dad, she'll freak if you open them. Remember when she put chocolate syrup in your shampoo."

"And she wonders why it is banned from our home," Lucius grumbled as he shamelessly tore open the letter. "If it bothers her, then she should have gotten up when I woke you up instead of complaining of not feeling well."

Sirius's eyes hardened. "And here I was planning on burying the hatchet and thanking you."

Lucius rolled his eyes as he scanned the letter, frowning in shock a moment later. "How the hell…but she-she's an idiot!"

"Dad!" Draco groaned as Sirius jumped out of his seat, prepared to punch Lucius in the face with his good arm. "That's not fair. She worked really hard on them."

"Eight!" Lucius gasped out, too shocked to even notice Sirius's reaction. "She got eight OWLs! The only one she failed was the one that she didn't finish! How…She failed History of Magic for the year but got an O on the final exam. How the bloody hell is that even possible?"

Almost equally shocked, Sirius snatched the letter out of Lucius's hands. "Charms E… Transfiguration O… Herbology O… Defense Against the Dark Arts T… Potions O… Care of Magical Creatures E… Astronomy A… Arthimancy E… History of Magic O… Why can't she do that all the time, damn it?"

Harry sniggered as he started tearing open his own letter. "Because Hermione doesn't challenge her every test."

Draco stared at Kim's letter fearfully. "She is going to kill you when she finds out that you read her scores without her."

Harry almost laughed as Sirius hastily tried to shove the letter back in the envelope but became numb with shock when he looked at his own scores. "Okay. You have to wake her up now."

Sirius bit his lip guilty. He probably should have woken Remus up too. "Let's wrap up the letters and pretend we waited and reopen them at dinner…"

Ron peered at Hermione's frozen form and then turned to see Harry's shocked expression. He shook his best mate by the shoulder, but Harry didn't budge. "I don't think that's possible. I think they're broken."

Harry shook his head quickly to get his brain working again. "By some miracle, I got an O in Potions."

Sirius gaped. "What? You suck at Potions!"

"Thanks, Sirius." Harry did his best to sound put out but was too excited to not sound happy. He could be an auror now! Sure it meant two more years with Snape, but he didn't have to change career paths.

Sirius blinked, knowing that Remus would have smacked him on the back of the head for that one. "No-no! This is great! We need to celebrate! Put a flaming bag of poop on Snape's lawn or something. I'll go wake up the squirt!"

"Don't." Draco fidgeted guilty. He shouldn't have talked to her like he had last night. "She…she didn't get to sleep until around one and kept getting up to use the bathroom. She needs to rest."

Sirius frowned suspiciously but decided not to throw a fit and ruin the moment for everyone else. As Hermione started recovering from getting ten OWLs, Sirius plastered a big smile on his face. "All the more time to plan our celebration!"

* * *

"See kiddo?" Sirius grinned when Kim finally woke up around lunchtime and held up his arm, which was wrapped up in fresh bandages. "Just a scratch!"

"Just a scratch?" Ron yelled. "There's no skin on your bloody arm!"

Harry laughed quietly and shook his head as Hermione glared at Ron. Her fingers twitched with the urge to whack the youngest Weasley brother on the back of the head or hex him… or both. "Honestly Ronald! She's worried herself sick!"

Kim flushed as Ron grumbled about the fact that she would surely notice that Sirius would be in bandages for at least a week. She was worried about Sirius at first but spent the rest of the night tossing and turning, worrying about her and Draco. She sat down and summoned a glass of water. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I thought you would be tired since you got up every two seconds to go to the bathroom last night," Draco said flatly, forgetting his guilty feelings and becoming angry once more. Sirius narrowed his eyes, knowing something was up but said nothing. He figured he should cut the kid some slack since Lucius had saved his life a few hours ago.

Kim traced her finger over the rim of her water glass, eyes filling with tears. "Yeah. That was awful."

"You'll have to see all of Mrs. Figg's cats," Harry said with a forced smile, trying to cheer her up. "Dumbledore's office is full of them."

"Maybe she can bring them over here." Kim tried to smile but then grimaced, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. "I'll be right back."

Draco closed his eyes and sighed with frustration when he felt all eyes on him as Kim scurried back upstairs. Trying not to lose his temper, he rose to follow her, nearly slamming his chair into the table. He found her heading to the bathroom. "Look, I'm sorry I was an ass last night but—"

"I know. It hurt my feelings, but I know I can't be a brat forever." She winced and rubbed at her lower abdomen. "Actually, I think I have a UTI…Is Darwin still here?"

Draco frowned. He wasn't good with abbreviations. "He's with one of the Weasley twins. Apparently there's a curse out there that will make you grow extra arms. Weasley came in with about eight arms on one side. Couldn't even stand up right."

"That sucks." Kim grabbed Draco's arm, dragging him off to Fred and George's room. "You better still love me."

"I do," he insisted, even though he wasn't sure for how much longer last night. "My patience is just wearing thin."

Kim smiled sadly as she opened the door to Fred and George's room. George was lying on the bed, now having four arms on one side instead of eight. "Can you even use those other arms?"

George scowled. "Can you believe Darwin paralyzed them? I think I could use an extra arm."

Darwin chuckled. "I had to after one punched me. They're cursed arms, my boy. One would have grabbed a knife and stabbed you eventually."

Kim waved him off. "But I'm more important than George. I need antibiotics!"

"What do you have again?" Draco asked fearfully, as if she were going to drop to the floor at any moment.

But Kim ignored him. "I feel like I have to pee even when I really don't have to, and it burns when I go, and it hurts right here." She pointed to her lower abdomen. "And I feel like shit." Kim held out her hand. "Medication please."

Darwin momentarily looked mildly surprised until he saw right through her and chuckled. "Don't think you're getting out of an examination that easily." He laughed harder when she pouted. "You need another ultrasound anyway."

Kim sighed. "Am I still more important than George?" she asked hopefully.

Darwin looked at George, who rolled his eyes as Fred started inspecting his extra arms. The healer shrugged. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, sweetheart."

Kim grinned. "I take that as a yes!"

On their way to Kim and Draco's bedroom, Darwin explained that UTI stood for urinary tract infection, and Draco had to bite his tongue to keep from blaming Kim for not going to the bathroom for nearly five hours while waiting for Black. He was glad he did, since Darwin explained that she should urinate right after having sex to get out all the bacteria. If he had snapped at her like he wanted to before, she either would have cried or sent him a stinging hex. Part of him wanted to hex himself. He told her that they shouldn't…

"Can you find out the sexes yet?" Kim asked eagerly as she hopped on the bed, interrupting his thoughts. He supposed this had to do with her names obsession because he knew that she was dreading having another ultrasound. Her back and forth attitude was really driving him insane.

Darwin frowned slightly, confused since he didn't know about her obsession with picking out the perfect name. "Only if you keep your eyes open this time."

Kim's face instantly fell, causing Draco to pinch the bridge of his nose with frustration. Seeing this, she did her best to perk up again. She wasn't giving up without a fight. And so, Kim smiled even though she knew it didn't reach her eyes and lifted up her shirt. "Hurry up, old man. I don't have all day."

Darwin smirked. "Severus is busy today. So actually, you do have all day. First, I need to test you for a UTI, so I don't give you an antibiotic potion if you don't need it. And since I don't believe you've eaten yet, I would like to take some blood work. Then, I can find out the sexes for you."

Draco ran his hands through Kim's hair, trying to show her some affection even though their relationship was currently strained. She smiled slightly but wouldn't look at him. Trying not to sigh, he asked, "I thought you wouldn't be able to find out for two weeks."

"I can find out through magic but not ultrasound," Darwin informed him, sounding like a professor. "I actually could have told you a month ago but, well, I wanted to see how the appointment went."

Kim blushed and looked at the ceiling. "Okay, I get it. I'm a brat. I'm trying to be a better person now, so get on with the show please."

"Alright." Darwin took out his wand and a needle to draw her blood. He really had a hard time not laughing at these two. Then again, he always found Kim's oddities amusing. "Any questions?"

"When will they start to move?" Draco asked softly, turning his eyes away from Kim when he noticed her pale considerably. He hoped that she would be happy when they did start moving. He was going to have to accept that she would be scared at first though.

"Anywhere from now to a month from now," Darwin informed them gently, looking at Kim as he spoke. "Everyone's different. It is more when will you feel it, not when will they start. It depends on their position and their sleep schedule verses yours, especially in the beginning."

Kim felt her heart skip a beat. She thought she still had a month before she had to worry about that. Apparently not. "I-I have to go to the bathroom." She hopped off her bed, ready to bolt.

Darwin pretended not to notice her panicking and conjured a small plastic cup. "Go in this so I can test you."

"Okay." She took the cup with shaking hands and scurried off.

"I shouldn't have asked," Draco whispered once she was gone. "Or I at least should have waited until she left."

Darwin smiled kindly. "Just because she's a mess doesn't mean you can't get excited. Is she taking all her potions?"

"Yes." Draco frowned. She never put up a fight about that, which now that he thought about it, was rather surprising. "Every morning and every night. I have to keep reminding her to drink more water though, but she does it without a fight."

Darwin nodded in approval. "There you go. Try to focus on that instead of the other stuff she pulls. Ignore her when she's being a brat and praise her when she's being nice. Trust me. I had to potty train her."

Kim narrowed her eyes a few minutes later when she returned, knowing they were talking about her. She handed the healer the cup. "It wasn't pink when I went half an hour ago."

"It's blood," Darwin stated simply. "So I'm assuming your suspicions are correct." He pointed his wand at the cup and mumbled an incantation under his breath. The liquid in the cup instantly turned blue, causing him to frown. "You tested positive…I'm giving you a week's worth of antibiotic potions. Take them all, even if you feel better."

Kim pouted, hoping she wasn't going to get an earful from Draco later. "This sucks."

Darwin shrugged. "Then use the bathroom when you have to go. But it could be anything really. You chances of getting them increase with pregnancy as well among other things."

"But they're okay, right?" Draco asked cautiously. Kim was on her best behavior, but he didn't know for how long. He didn't want her to go on another incubator tirade.

"As long as you don't have a fever, they'll be fine," Darwin said to Kim, not wanting to talk about her as if she weren't there.

Kim snapped her fingers. "Well, I don't, so get on with business here!"

"So impatient," Darwin muttered to himself as he did whenever he had to give her a checkup. He grinned, teasing her. "Which is why I am going to have to save the best for last."

* * *

"He was a total dick, Moony," Sirius ranted at dinner, annoyed that Kreacher brought Kim her breakfast and that she hung in her room half the day with Malfoy. "They're fighting about something, and I want him to apologize."

Remus yawned, still feeling sickly from the full moon the other night. "That's between them, Sirius. You don't need to know everything about their relationship."

"The hell I don't," Sirius muttered. "She was so sad, Moony! You'll see when she comes down for dinner."

Harry nearly laughed out loud when Kim practically skipped down the stairs with a huge smile on her face. "You're right, Sirius. I've never seen her so sad."

Kim waved him off as she and Draco sat in their usual seats. "Sad, me? Never!" Lucius snorted into his tea but then started choking on it after her next words. "We know the sex of the babies!"

Draco smiled shyly when all conversation died down, and everyone looked at them expectantly. This was going to drive Black insane. And maybe his father too… Lucius gestured to his son when Kim didn't blurt out the sex like he expected her to. "Go on, son."

Kim giggled and sang, "It's our secret!"

Lucius's jaw dropped, and he looked rather comical with his black eye. "Eh-excuse me?"

"But you're going to tell us eventually, right?" Sirius asked, practically begging. Remus and Harry looked at each other and laughed silently. Sirius was definitely going to go mad.

"Yup," Kim said simply as she stabbed at a piece of ham with her fork. Again everyone looked at them expectantly, as if they had changed their minds and were suddenly going to announce what the babies were. But Kim just grinned and started to eat.

"After they're born," Draco finished for her, smiling broadly when everyone groaned. He couldn't remember the last time he was this happy. He couldn't wait to hold them.

"You've got to be kidding me," Sirius squeaked, running his hands through his hair and thoroughly stressed out. "W-why?"

"Because they're cute, that's why," Narcissa crooned as she leaned over the table and pinched her son's cheek, laughing as he scowled. "I think it's adorable."

"Adorable?" Lucius repeated as if his wife was insane. He shook his head and said deadly serious, "I'm bribing that healer."

"Won't work!" Kim bounced in her seat, pleased to have pulled a joke on Lucius that was going to last nearly five months. She rubbed circles over her belly and started singing again. "Pink or blue. Pink or blue…"

Lucius's eye twitched, trying to resort to trickery and hoping for a confirmation or denial. "You carry as if you are having boys."

Kim froze, blinked, and turned to Draco. "What does that mean?"

Draco shrugged and then smirked. "Dunno. He probably doesn't either."

"He does!" Sirius insisted once he caught on to Lucius's plan.

"It's an old wives' tale," Molly informed them, not wanting to ruin the couple's fun. She had never seen Kim so happy with anything to do with the babies, and this was the best she had seen her and Draco get along since mid-June.

"It is not!" Sirius yelled, sounding like a two year old. Usually when Snape tried that trick, he got Kim to admit whatever she was trying to hide.

Kim grinned. "I guess you'll find out in five months!"

**A/N: Thanks for reading! The next chapter is called "Happy", so things will finally be looking up! And after that, it's back to school for the gang. Please review!**


	7. Happy

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 7

Kim grinned as she and Draco got ready for bed that night, waving her OWL results in the air. "Eight OWLs, an Outstanding Potions student, two babies, a pouting Sirius, and a frazzled Lucius! What more could a girl ask for?"

Draco smiled. "How about a husband who's well on his way to becoming a healer?"

"You passed Transfiguration with an E?" Kim squealed as she jumped on the bed.

Draco nodded and then winced. "Don't say it."

But of course, Kim was going to say it. "Because of me! You never would have been able to do it without me! I'm the best tutor ever!"

"I believe I would have been fully capable without you chucking notecards at me every two seconds." Draco crawled into bed next to her and tried to kiss the smug expression off her face. Kim returned the kiss deeply before quickly drawing away and whacking him with a pillow. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Like that hurt!" Kim taunted. "Thanksgiving is November 28th this year! I won't forget! And I can actually eat until I pass out without getting sick."

Draco rubbed his head, still pretending to be injured by Kim's pillow. "Congratulations?"

Kim rolled her eyes and whacked him again. "And you know why I won't forget?"

Draco raised his eyebrows, wondering what bizarre ritual he was going to be roped into now. He refused to get dressed up like Weasley did the other year. "Why?"

"_Because_…" Kim jabbed him in the chest with her index finger. "_You_ are throwing me a baby shower…or hmmm, I guess _babies_ shower. I'm not sure if it works like that. Either way, you're throwing me a party."

Draco smiled, trying not to make a big deal out of this. "You want to have a baby shower?"

"Yeah…" Kim fiddled with her hands, a little uncomfortable with how surprised he was. She had been good for a while, until last night that is. "What's been bothering me as of late is that I feel inadequate, like…Well, I'm going to mess up."

Draco frowned and brushed some hair out of her face. "Inadequate? Everyone messes up. Our parents—"

"That's the problem!" she cried. "They'll help _too_ much. And then they'll take over, and I won't really be the mom. I'll just…" Her eyes filled with tears. "Since I'm not very responsible, I'll wind up letting them, and they'll wind up raising them, and the babies will end up resenting me because I won't be a real mom."

Draco's frowned only deepened. How does she cook this stuff up in her head? "I won't let you let them." He put a hand over her belly and quirked his mouth into a smile. "And I will admit that my father's controlling, but I don't think he'll go that far."

"Mrs. Weasley will," she mumbled, putting her hand over his and rubbing her thumb over his knuckles. "She won't mean it, but she has a way of thinking that her way is always better. And then Remus will if he thinks I'm getting too overwhelmed."

"They'll probably do it at first," Draco admitted. "I was actually hoping they will because you'll be recovering from the birth. But after a week or so, I'll tell them to back off."

"And hurt their feelings!" Kim huffed. "And I don't want to hurt their feelings any more than I already have! Mostly Remus…I think Mrs. Weasley would understand more."

"I think Remus would understand." Draco bit his lip and continued carefully once he got his thoughts together, "If you were a bit happier. I think he, well I think we all are worried that you'll suffer from postpartum depression after they're born."

Kim tensed and her eyes flashed with offense. "I wouldn't kill them!"

"What?" Draco said automatically, confused until he realized what she thought. "That only happens in extreme cases! You just have to be treated before it gets that bad!"

"I won't need treatment," she said stubbornly. "I'm loads better than I was in June!"

"Thank Merlin for that," Draco mumbled, sounding a little bitter.

"That's not fair!" she shot back. "I-I…" She rubbed at her eyes, not letting her tears fall. "I'm _trying_. I can't always do everything right!"

Draco drew his hands away and felt his throat close up with the effort not to cry. He looked at the ceiling so she couldn't see his frustration and hurt. "I know. I just can't take you resenting me for the rest of our lives. I want us to be a happy family. I…I love you, and I love the babies. I want the four of us to be happy together. It isn't always going to be fun, but…"

Kim turned on her side and wiped a tear off his face. "I don't resent you anymore. I was nasty yesterday because I feel stuck and weak. I get tired so easily. I can't leave the house. I have to eat a certain way, sleep a certain way, bathe a certain way. But I shouldn't take it out on you. And I'm sorry."

Draco let out a watery laugh. "You aren't weak. A weak person wouldn't leave the window open and put doxy food in my father's office. A weak person would have given up, cowered in fear when my father bullied them, and wallowed in self-pity until January or maybe forever."

Kim wrinkled her nose and giggled. "So you're saying…I should keep pranking your father?"

Draco leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Whatever makes you happy, love."

Kim's face fell slightly. "Everyone else happy would make me happy."

"And how will a baby shower help?" Draco murmured, secretly hoping that this conversation was the key to getting her out of her cycle of being happy and then miserable.

Kim thought for a minute, then laughed to herself and shook her head. "Maybe. I don't know. I messed up this summer. Everyone walks on eggshells around me. If I throw a baby shower, then they'll see that I'm not going to be a brat anymore and not be so worried so they won't feel the need to take over."

Draco nodded slowly, even though he didn't think she was making much sense. "But you know, baby showers are supposed to be a surprise."

Kim glared at him. "If I want to throw myself a baby shower, I'm throwing myself a baby shower! I'm your pregnant wife! You have to do everything I say!"

Draco laughed. "Not by late November. I'll definitely be able to outrun you then."

Kim kicked him lightly in the shins, scowling. "We'll see about that!"

* * *

Elizabeth sighed as she felt Severus get up early _again_. "Come, Sev. It's summer!" she groaned. "I'm sure those kids don't want to learn on a Friday morning in August."

As usual, she opened her eyes to see Severus as sour as ever. "They should have thought of that before they decided to have sex."

Elizabeth rubbed at her eyes, yawning. "Stella sent her weight loss potions the other day. Kim sent her instructions to poison herself in response."

Severus shrugged as he started getting dressed, only half listening. "She saw the wedding pictures. And I swear the girl gets bigger every time I see her."

Growling, Elizabeth threw a pillow at him. "They don't usually talk unless they're face to face, you ass!"

Severus turned to her and away from the mirror, perplexed. "So?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "_So, _she's jealous. You spent more time with her rival this summer than you did with her and when you aren't with them, you're frolicking with the Dark Lord. Sirius and Remus can teach them everything, but Potions now that they are done with their hissy fits."

Severus stared as her words sunk in. His shoulders slumped. "Fuck."

Elizabeth threw herself flat on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "Exactly."

"I am not…" Severus gritted his teeth. There was no excuse for himself really. "I am used to living alone. That wasn't my intent."

Elizabeth continued to stare at the ceiling. "Perception is reality, shitface. So you have less than a month to make it up to us."

Severus raised his eyebrows. "Us?"

Elizabeth nodded, already closing her eyes. "I'm the mum, you're the dad. We're a family. You aren't happy until I'm happy."

Severus wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that. He doubted that she loved him, and he had trouble describing his feelings for her. He doubted that they would ever be able to completely love each other. "What do I have to do to make you happy?"

Elizabeth smirked, and given what he was currently thinking, her next words completely floored him. "I want to go to Hawaii, and I want us to get married while your pale skin turns as red as a lobster."

Severus gaped, unable to form words at first. They bickered back and forth worse than the youngest male Weasley and Granger. Sometimes he thought she hated him. And she wanted to get married? "Eh-excuse me?"

Elizabeth sat up. "I'm tired of keeping us a secret. There's no one else on this planet for me, and there's no one else on this planet for you. So, I want to get married. And Stella and I like the beach."

Severus's brain felt like a stuck hamster wheel. "What?"

Giggling, Elizabeth hopped out of bed and started packing her things. When Severus looked back on this memory, he realized that Elizabeth had this planned all along, especially when she said, "Our plane leaves at noon. So settle all your teenage drama and be ready by then."

* * *

The next morning, Kim felt like everyone was staring at her at breakfast as she bounced around, singing and making her cereal like everything was right with the world. Even Draco seemed surprised, which made Kim momentarily pout when she set down her bowl. Her mood swings weren't that bad… Okay, maybe they were.

"You seem to be in a good mood today," Remus said, eyes twinkling in a very Dumbledore-like way.

Kim raised her eyebrows, smiling. "I don't know what you're talking about, Remus."

Before Remus could respond, Severus strode in, as chipper as ever with his usual grouchy expression. "Hurry up and eat, brat. I'm teaching you Potions today and then Lupin and Black are taking over for a while."

"Why?" Kim did her best to look sad while inside she wanted to do a little jig. Sirius would never give as much homework as Snape! And he would let her eat during lectures without having to whine for an hour. And he would let her sleep in!

Severus narrowed his eyes, knowing just what was going on in her evil little mind. "That is none of your concern."

Kim put her hands on her hips. "What could you possibly have do that you couldn't do here with us? You love teaching me and Draco!" Draco did his best to hide his laugh with a cough.

"Believe it or not, Kimberly, I do have a life outside of teaching you two delinquents." Severus glared at Sirius, daring him to say otherwise. However the animagus remained quiet, not wanting Severus to change his mind and start coming over every day.

Kim laughed like she didn't believe him. "Yeah. A boring one. I'm the light of your life, the light of everyone's life, really."

Severus felt his eye twitch, wondering what possessed him to promise to tutor this girl until early June. "I have a daughter."

Kim nodded. "And I'm willing to forgive you for that."

Severus did his best to glare at her in a way that would make most of his students cry, but, unfortunately, she was as unfazed as usual. He had hoped the hormones would cause her to get upset. "I can see that you have gotten over your depression, and your head is quickly filling with air again."

"I am not an airhead!" Kim exclaimed, waving her spoon in the air and causing mushy cereal to be flung in Lucius's face, leading him to swear and threaten her. "I got eight OWLs, Professor! And now you are going to leave me and not even tell me why?"

"I meant that your head is inflated with its usual arrogance!" Severus snapped, letting his temper get the best of him. "I am getting married, you little fool!"

That shut everyone up. Sirius gaped as Fred and George literally tried to make their jaws drop. "To who?"

Severus tensed, realizing what he just said. "Who do you think, mutt?"

Before Sirius could reply, Kim became offended once more, making Severus wonder when she worked into her demented mind that they had some sort of positive relationship. "And you aren't going to invite me to the wedding?" she squeaked.

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, trying to summon the patience to get through the morning with this girl. "No! Why on earth would I do that?"

"I invited you to my wedding!" Kim exclaimed indignantly. When she saw that that had no emotional effect on Severus, she resorted to bribery. "I'll tell you the sex of the babies."

Draco raised his eyebrows, but before he could object, his father resorted to some bribery of his own. He was practically begging Severus. "And I'll pay you handsomely for that information."

"And whatever he says, I'll double it." Sirius jerked his thumb in Lucius's direction.

"Merlin! Leave the man be!" Remus dug his nails into his palm to keep himself from laughing. "If Severus wants to have a private wedding, that's his business."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeease!" Kim whined, knowing that Severus wouldn't fall for cuteness and jumped straight to being annoying. "Pretty pleeeeeeease! Please that's so pretty it's almost as pretty as me!"

Severus almost asked why she would want to go in the first place but decided that he didn't want to converse with her any more than necessary. "No. So hurry up and eat, brat. I have a busy day a head of me."

"Fine," Kim muttered with a pout. Severus rolled his eyes and headed to the library to impatiently wait.

* * *

"Potter!"

Harry froze and almost swore at the sound of Draco's voice. The last conversation they had alone together that lasted more than a minute was when Harry had choked him. It was not one of his proudest moments. "What is it Malfoy?"

Draco looked just as delighted to see him as Harry did. "I want to throw Kim a baby shower."

Harry's eyebrows shot up past his bangs. "Er, now? Because I wouldn't be surprised if she had a meltdown over that. I mean, she was good today but a few days ago…"

"She told me she wanted one!" Draco snapped. "But she wanted it in November, so I wanted to surprise her by throwing her one right before you prats leave."

Harry couldn't help but be shocked. He didn't think Kim would want anything like that and part of him thought she was going to leave Draco and be back at Hogwarts by the end of February.

"Really?" He ran his hands threw his hair, ashamed for his own thoughts. "Well, I know you're an only child and all Malfoy, but even I know that baby showers are usually thrown by the women of the family."

Draco frowned, clearly having no idea. "Look, Potter. Weaslette is with Kim now and besides her, you are the only member of her family that I am slightly comfortable with."

"Er, thanks?" Harry wasn't sure if he was comfortable with that. Never in a million years did he think he would be throwing a baby shower with Draco Malfoy.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Potter! I didn't tell her, but I have no idea what a baby shower entails. Most of my friends are only children. Most wizarding families can't reproduce like the Weasleys."

Harry took a deep breath, trying to forget the time that Sirius teased him about Malfoy being his brother-in-law. "Aunt Petunia's been to a few. But it's usually only _women_ that go. I don't think the father even goes. Or if he does, he isn't very involved."

"Then why would she want me to throw it?" Draco yanked at his hair. He really thought it was only a little party. But now it seemed to be filled with odd rules, so who knew what rituals would have to be performed. She was really driving him crazy.

"How am I supposed to know?" _And why the bloody hell would you ask me?_ Harry thought to himself. "Since when has she followed the rules?"

"What else do these parties involve?" Draco demanded.

Harry threw his hands up in the air. "I don't know, Malfoy. Ask your mother. And for the longest time, I was an only child too. The Dursleys hated me, and I didn't have any friends, so I haven't the slightest clue."

"Merlin, Potter." Draco made a face as if Harry had just announced he spent his childhood in a sweatshop. "Your life was pretty pathetic."

Harry did his best to keep his face blank while wondering why he was still wasting his time with this conversation. "Whatever Malfoy. The point is you're on your own."

* * *

On August 30th, Kim was only slightly aware that she slept the morning away. But since she had slept too much, she was too drowsy to yell at Draco for letting her miss school and even worse, breakfast. She sat up and blinked, rubbing her at her eyes. It was nearly one, according to the clock next to her bed.

"Oh good you're up." Kim yelped and jumped at the sound of Draco's voice. He smiled and didn't explain himself until she glared at him, leading her to believe he was stalling. "Lupin and Black gave you the day off. I'll bring you up breakfast."

Kim narrowed her eyes. Something was definitely up. "What do you have up your sleeve, Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco's face fell slightly before he put on a mask of offense. "Can't I let my pregnant wife sleep in and bring her breakfast in bed?"

Kim snorted. "Nice try. I'll bet anything that you don't want me downstairs for some reason. And Remus would never let me sleep until one."

Draco felt his eyes widen slightly as he tried to think of a good excuse in his head. Lupin had actually wanted to wake her up hours ago. "Uh…"

Kim glowered. "Is it because they're getting ready for school in a couple days? Because I can handle it as long as they promise to write to me about how boring their lives are without me and that they'll visit every weekend for the sake of their mental health as well as mine."

"Weasley and Granger were arguing about that," Draco informed her, not confirming or denying her suspicions.

Kim narrowed her eyes as she slowly got out of bed. "Hermione better visit me. I'm taking a bath. So whatever you're being weird about, stop it before I get out."

Draco smiled but darted away once she was in the bathroom, and he heard her turn the sink on. That'll keep her busy for a while.

He entered the parlor to find a complete circus. The sign had fallen. Black had charmed all the wrapping paper pink, hoping for an accidental correction or confirmation. Calvin was putting chocolate bars on nappies while he explained some sick game to Dora. Potter and Weasley were being awkward in the corner while Hermione told them and Ginny all the horrible, gruesome details she had read about pregnancy. His face fell as the Weasley twins set up a betting table. "You two better not be doing what I think you're doing."

George frowned, trying to keep his expression innocent. "Whatever do you mean, dearest Draco?"

"This game was played at our cousin's shower, according to Mum," Fred informed him.

Mrs. Weasley turned away from Narcissa to see what her sons were up too. Her eyes bugged out of her head. "Fred! George! I said that _years_ ago! You forget everything else I say. Dismantle that table this instant! I will not have you placing bets on that poor girl's weight. And the game was guessing the baby's weight!"

Fred snickered. "But cousin Ellie was ready to pop then. Kim's babies are too small right now. Winner gets a year supply of Canary Creams!"

"Or a gift card at an undisclosed location that will be available early next year!" George added.

Draco glared at them. Kim was too vain to laugh this off. "She'll be down soon! Dismantle the table or I'll bring Kreacher out here to do it!"

George laughed. "Such a job to beneath you, Malfoy?"

Before Draco could reply, he felt his blood turn to ice when he heard an angry voice yell incredulously, "You're betting on my weight?!"

Draco spun around to see Kim glaring at him from down the stairs and waved his hands in surrender. "N-n-no! I-I was telling them to take it down, I swear."

Fred leaned over the table and said deadpanned, "He thinks you weigh ten stone."

Kim looked ready to kill as she did the quick math in her head. "You think I've already gained forty pounds!" She ran down the stairs and shrieked, "You think I weigh a hundred and forty pounds!"

Draco smiled weakly. "Surprise!"

Kim opened her mouth to yell at him some more but froze when she saw Harry and Ron struggling to hold up a huge sign that was in front of the house elf heads. It said "CONGRATULATIONS!" in green letters on yellow paper. Her face fell for a moment, causing everyone to glare at Draco, thinking he made up that she wanted a baby shower. But then she smiled and said dumbly, "It's not November."

Draco let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. "I had to surprise you somehow didn't I?" He put and arm around her waist and kissed her sweetly, ignoring Sirius's yell of disapproval. "I figured you could use a good surprise."

Kim smiled shyly, only looking at him when she said quietly, "Maybe I did get a few good surprises. I was just too afraid to see it properly."

Nobody chose to comment on that, too afraid of scaring her off. Lucius looked rather smug though.

It went on like a normal party after that. Kim chased Fred and George with a wooden spoon that she conjured until they took the betting table down. Draco nearly had a stroke when Kim accidently ate a Canary Cream, leading Kim to call the babies her little canaries for the rest of the night. After dinner, Kim threw herself on the couch between Harry and Ron, much to their dismay.

"That stopped being cute halfway through third year!" Ron grumbled.

Kim rolled her eyes and laughed like Ron was a fool. "I'm always cute!"

"Always obnoxious," Ron muttered under his breath.

Kim pretended not to hear and turned to Harry, waving a diaper with a melted Mars bar in it. "Are you going to hold them after they're born?"

Harry leaned away from the diaper. "Not with a nappy full of chocolate."

Kim giggled. "Canaries don't need diapers!" Grinning, she looked over at Draco, who was chatting with Mrs. Weasley. "Right Draco?"

"It's not funny!" Draco said loudly before turning back to Mrs. Weasley.

Kim waved him off. "He's so weird." She punched Harry on the knee, unfazed by his wince and glare. "So are you going to hold my little canaries?"

Harry looked down at her hand, which was on the top of her rounded stomach. Those sweaters Mrs. Weasley knitted were awfully small, and she had said that the twins would _grow_ into them. "Er…Maybe… I've never really held an infant or any child, really."

"You have to!" Kim insisted. "It's not that hard! I babysat tons of babies!"

"Who would trust you with their children?" Ron asked incredulously.

Kim laughed. "I think I know a thing or two about being responsible, Ron."

Before Ron could reply, Calvin, who was on the floor trying to figure out how to put together a bassinet, said, "Only two distant cousins were stupid enough to leave their children with her four years ago. Surprisingly enough, both infants survived."

"Hey!" Kim decided to show how mature she was by showing him her middle finger. "I was the best babysitter ever! I tickled their tummies and changed their diapers!"

Harry frowned, trying to remember the last time he had _seen_ a baby. He shook his head. "I can't. They'll start crying and jump out of my arms."

Kim narrowed her eyes at him, sensing a challenge. "You are holding them the day that they are born! Newborns can't jump, even if they are part canary!"

"I-I can't!" Harry could see Sirius laughing at him out of the corner of his eye. "Malfoy won't let me."

"Of course he will!" Kim grinned at Draco, who was holding up a frilly, glittery pink dress with a look of horror on his face while his father was eagerly waiting for him to confirm or deny that he needed it. "Right?"

Draco turned away from the pink heap of lace in his hands. "Not if he's going to throw a horrified fit and drop them."

"I like that dress. And he won't!" Kim pouted, resting her chin on Harry's shoulder and trying to be cute. "Imagine wondering why the thing with spikey hair and glasses never wants to cuddle!"

"My hair is not spikey!" Harry unconsciously tried to flatten his messy hair. "I'll hold them when they can sit up on their own and can hold on to me and not jump out my arms!"

Kim leaned back in her seat, not believing him for one second. "We'll see about that."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Oddly enough, I really like Severus's and Elizabeth's relationship because of its lack of emotional communication. They don't really need to be all gushy and say they love each other. I think deep, deep, **_**deep **_**down they know they do. Please review!**


	8. Faint Whispers

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 8

Harry yawned as everyone headed downstairs. School was starting tomorrow, and they had to get up early to buy their books. Feeling left out, Kim pouted at the breakfast table. "Make sure to get strawberry milkshakes in my honor, even though the thought of them makes me want to gag."

"You aren't some fallen war hero." Harry grinned as Sirius handed him a glass of pumpkin juice. "And you can get books with us next year."

"Hurry up and eat," Mad-Eye growled. "We want to get there exactly when the shops open."

"What's the point, Mad-Eye?" Dora yawned. "The place is a ghost town anyway."

Ginny shook her head with disbelief. "There's no way. It was bustling as usual last time we went."

Sirius winced and kept his eyes on his plate. "That was before Private Drive." He had kept the papers out of the house because of this. _The Prophet_ was calling it a massacre. "Everything was quiet and then…"

"But…" Harry frowned. Sirius had never said it was that bad. They didn't really talk about it and were more focused on his arm healing. "But you never said what had happened exactly. I thought… Well, I thought that the Death Eaters retreated before anything happened."

Remus looked at Sirius darkly until the man turned away. "Harry… I thought he told you… Almost everyone on Private Drive died. All the houses burned. The Muggles are saying it was a gas explosion."

"I…" Sirius refused to meet Harry's eye, feeling guilty and justified at the same time. "I didn't want you to blame yourself."

Harry felt anger well up in him. He should have known that Sirius would downplay what happened. "Why not? Voldemort wouldn't have done that if it wasn't for me! Did you really think I wouldn't find out, Sirius?"

Sirius sighed. "I was actually hoping you wouldn't."

Harry threw his hands up in the air and trying his best not to start shouting. "Great. How am I supposed to be able to handle stuff like this if I don't even know about it? I'll just walk around thinking, 'Oh he never manages to actually kill anyone! I'll be able to face him with no problems. Hell, I could probably off him right now! What am I waiting for?'"

"When you say it like that…" Sirius fidgeted in his seat. "But I know you'll blame yourself for something you had no part in. You didn't tell Voldemort to do it!"

"The kid has a point," Mad-Eye said gruffly. "Which is why he should be in Order meetings." He was met with stunned silence that made him laugh bitterly. "What? Are we really going to expect the kid to fulfill the Prophecy but have no bloody idea of what the hell's going on?"

"He's right, Sirius," Remus said firmly. There was no more avoiding this. Actually, he should have talked to Sirius about this a long time ago. He had just… wanted Harry to be a kid for once.

Sirius felt his brain become sluggish, running out of excuses and not expecting Remus to disagree with him in front of everyone. Harry wasn't ready for this. He's just a kid. When he was Harry's age, his biggest concern was how to get firewhiskey for the night's party. "But—"

"I want this to end, Sirius," Harry nearly whispered.

Sirius gulped. He shouldn't have to give in on this, but he shouldn't keep things from Harry either. "I… If you start to blame yourself, I mean seriously blame yourself and make yourself miserable, I'm pulling you out of the meetings, understand?"

Harry blinked in surprise. He had expected this to be an uphill battle and for Sirius to finally give in after weeks, not minutes. "Really?"

Sirius gritted his teeth, wanting to yell, _No! Not in a million years._ Harry was growing up too quickly. All of the kids were. It wasn't fair. "Yes, really," he finally managed to ground out. "Don't make me regret it."

Kim smiled brightly. "Does this mean I can go too?"

Sirius glared at her, knowing that she was trying to cheer him up. "No. You're too young and immature," he somehow was able to say with a straight face.

"WHAT?"

* * *

Already annoyed, Ginny stabbed at her cake with her fork at the end of the feast September 1st. "They're already talking."

"Let them talk," Harry muttered. How was it that Hogwarts gossip could be right for once? "Just stick to the story."

"Story?" Pansy asked loudly from behind him. Harry jumped and almost started choking on his pudding. She rolled her eyes. "So what is the story Potter? Where's Draco? And it better not be what everyone's saying."

Harry turned around and glared at her, face falling when he saw how tired and worn out Pansy was. He sighed. "Malfoy can't keep his tongue to himself. He gave my sister Spattergroit."

Pansy's face scrunched up in disgust. "Why would she snog him if he was covered in Spattergroit sores?"

Ron snorted. "Have you seen those two idiots? They're so in love it's positively revolting."

Pansy exhaled in relief, flinching with guilt when she realized that she was thankful that one of her best friends was suffering from a horrible disease. "For a second I thought… Well, before summer, Daphne insisted that she was pregnant and was hiding it from Draco. I told her she was thick and that Kim wasn't sneaky enough for that. I guess I was right."

Harry looked at his friends guiltily. "Er, right. If Kim was pregnant, Sirius would have landed himself back in prison for murdering Malfoy. Trust me. He nearly hexed Malfoy when Kim started…"

"Actually," Hermione started to lecture to cover for Harry, who had trailed off because he had forgotten the symptoms. "Because Spattergroit often starts with fatigue, Sirius did think Kim was pregnant at first. But by then, Malfoy started getting the purple sores on his face."

"Oh yeah." Ginny laughed loudly, getting the attention of Lavender Brown. "And Sirius felt bad about hexing someone with Spattergroit. And poor Malfoy is suffering from terrible memory loss because of it. Squealed like a pig when Sirius started yelling at him and had no idea why."

Pansy frowned, still suspicious. "Blaise was visiting Draco last full moon."

"What?" Harry snapped. That was less than a week ago! There was no way that Blaise didn't know! Malfoy is so dead when Sirius finds out about this.

"Then he better get checked out," Ron filled in for Harry. "Because Malfoy started getting woozy the day after. It all happened so fast."

"Yeah, I'll bet." Pansy folded her arms over her chest, wanting to question them more. Unfortunately, Dumbledore started making his yearly speech so she had to head back to the Slytherin table.

"That was close," Ginny whispered as Dumbledore started to explain why the Forbidden Forest was forbidden. "Still, I don't think the rumors are going to die down any time soon."

"They will once something ridiculous happens," Hermione muttered. "And this is another reason why we can't visit! Spattergroit is highly contagious! People will be suspicious if we willingly go over there every weekend."

"Do you realize how much that'll hurt her feelings?" Harry hissed. "And imagine being stuck with Malfoy twenty four seven."

Ron sniggered quietly. "People will steer clear of us though, if they think we're infected." He smirked and glanced at Lavender and added loudly, "And we won't have to worry about eavesdroppers!"

Lavender squeaked and turned away just as Professor Dumbledore was announcing the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He smiled. "Many of you know of the brilliant man who has taken the position. He—"

"WOOHOO! PROFESSOR LUPIN'S BACK!" hollered a seventh year Hufflepuff, who was already excited for graduation. Several of his friends started cheering with him.

Professor Dumbledore held his hand up to silence them and chuckled. "Not quite. I would like everyone to give a warm round of applause for Professor Snape."

Harry, and hundreds of other students, gaped as Professor Snape rose from his seat. The old bat seemed to be actually enjoying the fact that hardly anyone clapped except for Slytherin. Harry felt a pang of sadness. Kim would have cheered the loudest until Snape yelled at her to shut up.

"And," Professor Dumbledore began as the mediocre applause died down. "As many of you know, that means that the position of Potion's professor needs to be filled."

"By Professor Lupin?" the same seventh year asked loudly. His friends started cheering again.

"I'm afraid not, Martin." Professor Dumbledore gestured to an old woman at the far end of the table. "I would like to introduce everyone to Professor Arabella Figg, the first Squib to have ever received a Master's Degree in the magical world."

Because Harry, Ron, and Hermione started clapping, the rest of Gryffindor followed suit. Soon enough, the other the tables reluctantly joined them. Mrs. Figg smiled shyly, like she wished that Dumbledore hadn't announced her presence. He wondered what kind of a teacher Mrs. Figg would be. There was one thing that Harry knew for sure. With Snape teaching his favorite subject, Mrs. Figg and her cats hanging out in the dungeons, his new involvement in the Order, and the small fact that he was going to become an uncle, this was definitely going to be another bizarre year at Hogwarts.

* * *

Around ten that night, Kim rested her chin on Draco's shoulder as she dozed. "I told you to drop Astronomy like me."

"I don't know what I want to specialize in." Draco tried to blink away the burning feeling in his eyes as he scrambled to finish his constellation map. "It will look good on my application if I can prove that I can handle a full course load."

"Right…" Kim tried to open her eyes but quickly closed them. "I want you to drop something next summer though. They'll be crawling and trying to walk by the time school starts. You'll cry if they slobber all over one of your essays."

Draco tossed his quill and rubbed at his eyes. "That might be an improvement at this point."

Kim kissed his shoulder. "Drop it. And drop History. And I know you don't like Care for Magical Creatures."

"That might actually be useful…If I need to treat certain bites." Draco ran his hands through his hair. "I just wish school wasn't every bloody day. And Severus isn't helping by sending extra homework assignments. I know he wants us to remember this in April, but I'm starting to see why everyone hates him."

Kim started to laugh but her face quickly fell. She tensed and slowly sat up, suddenly wide awake. She gasped quietly, putting a hand on the top of her stomach.

Draco felt his heart clench with fear. He grabbed her shoulder and squeezed to get her attention. "Are you okay? Do you need the healer?" She shook her head quickly, trying to smile. "Then what's wrong? You're scaring me and—"

"I think they're kicking," she gasped out, too stunned to say much else.

Draco quickly shut up, feeling his mouth go dry. He was both looking forward to this moment and dreading it at the same time. He didn't want her to go back to how she was a few weeks ago. "Oh…"

She wiped her eyes and tried to smile again. "Sorry. I wasn't expecting it."

"It's fine." Draco looked away from her and remembered her expression 'walking on eggshells'. He was definitely doing that now. Therefore, he was caught off guard and yelped when she snatched at his arm and put his hand over the left side of her stomach.

"Can you feel it?" she said quietly, voice a little strained. "That's where the bigger one is."

Draco frowned, breathe hitching slightly after a moment. He barely felt anything but… "Maybe."

"What do you mean maybe?" she yelled impatiently, pressing his hand onto her belly harder until he yanked his hand away.

"Don't do that!" Draco cried nervously. "It-it's very faint. That's what I mean! I'll be able to feel it better in a few weeks!"

Kim pouted and rolled her eyes. "I wasn't hurting them. It's not like my stomach's an egg shell, and they'll go splat with a little pressure."

Cautiously putting his hand where it was before, Draco kissed her until her pout turned into a smile, trying to ignore the mental image she just gave him. "Let me be the nervous father. Plus, I think Black would kill me if you had a bruise shaped like my hand on your stomach."

Kim grimaced at the thought of everyone wanting to feel the babies. "Can we keep this to ourselves for a little bit?" She shuddered. "I need to mentally prepare for your father wanting to touch me."

Draco laughed and slowly lifted up her shirt, trying to see if he could feel the smaller one. "Alright. But they might be concerned when October rolls around, and they think you haven't felt anything yet."

"Tough." Kim scrunched up her nose. "It's kind of gross, but Hermione gave me this book, and it said that you can actually _see_ them poking through a couple of weeks after you feel them moving. Or that your stomach kind of jumps. I threw a fit after reading it."

Draco glared at her. "Is that why you threw that book at me three weeks ago? My mum thought we were fighting and started lecturing me on domestic violence again! I had to tell her that you had bad aim and were trying to throw it to me to read later!"

Kim shrugged. "Sorry. I was grossed out. There are living things _inside_ me. It's fucking weird."

Draco rolled his eyes, annoyed but glad that she wasn't throwing a tantrum about this like he had feared she would. "And you've consciously known for two and a half months. And they're babies, not parasites eating you from the inside out and waiting to rip you open."

Kim shivered. "Thanks for giving me something to have nightmares about. Stop reading those books in Sirius's library."

Draco smirked. "Sorry. I needed a distraction from Goblin rebellions. Did you know—"

Kim covered her ears. "I don't want to know! Fine! Our babies aren't gross. I'm sorry I threw the book at you!"

"Glad to hear it." Draco stared at her bare stomach, trying to imagine little feet pushing through.

Kim grinned. "They're night owls like me!"

Draco turned his eyes to meet hers. "No. My family will not sleep until noon."

She giggled. "Or better yet, night canaries!"

"I swear, if they have one feather on their heads, I'm cursing the Weasleys twins into next week," Draco threatened halfheartedly, smiling at the end of his sentence.

Kim gently rubbed at the spot where she felt the little flicking sensation with her thumb. "I didn't feel any little talons." She sighed happily. "I guess we'll only know for sure in January."

Draco rolled his eyes and shut the light off with his wand. Homework could wait until morning. "Can't wait."

* * *

Ron glared at his sister that night right after the feast when he was doing his prefect rounds. "Ginny! It's the first day! Don't make me give you detention!"

Ginny stopped in her tracks, ear against the wall. "Do you here that?"

"Hear what?" Ron nearly whined. It was the first day of school. Summer was a mess. Couldn't they have a least a normal first _week_ of school?

"It's very faint," Ginny mumbled, mostly to herself. "But its louder out here…"

Ron groaned. "Don't tell me there's a bloody basilisk or something because you're acting like Harry second year and… And that was-that was bloody awful!"

Ginny rolled her eyes and put her ear against the wall. "No…No, it's not exactly from inside the walls. I guess it's just quieter out here."

"Well, what is it?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"I'm not sure." Ginny's brow furrowed with frustration. "It's whispering to me. Very faintly. Like its calling to me."

"Wonderful!" Ron exclaimed sarcastically. "Since I have no idea what the bloody hell you're talking about, we'll have to ask Dumbledore. The bloke knows everything."

Ginny looked toward the dark corridor. She really wanted to follow the voice, but Ron was right. She should find out what she's following before going head on into the darkness. "I hope so."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Just as the school world ends in the real world, I start the school year! :) Please review!**


	9. The Diadem

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 9

Albus almost smiled once Ginny told him what was going on. "Usually, such trouble is reserved for Harry."

"Sir?" Ginny asked fearfully.

"It would seem…" Albus paused, choosing his words carefully. "That what you are hearing is magic."

"How can you hear magic?" Ron said incredulously. "Magic-magic itself doesn't have a language, does it?"

Albus laughed softly. "Scholars have been debating the answer to that question for hundreds of years. And of course, no answer will be satisfactory unless everyone can hear this 'language' as you so justly put it."

Ron frowned and brought his brows together in confusion. At least it wasn't another Basilisk. "So why can Ginny hear it and I can't?"

Albus was silent at first, and the more Ginny thought about it, the more disturbed she became. She paled. "No."

"I'm not entirely sure, actually." Albus thinned his lips. "Because you should have been able to hear this long ago. Why is now so different? And, Harry should be able to hear this as well. Although, he only had a Horcrux attached to him once and you, twice."

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Ron was starting to wish that he had simply called Ginny looney and sent her to bed. The first day of school hadn't even started yet!

Albus smiled, though he knew it didn't reach his eyes. "Wake up Harry, my boy. Ginny can get Hermione while I call for an emergency Order meeting. It would seem that we have quite a day ahead of us."

Ron groaned. What a way to start off the school year.

* * *

"What?" Sirius practically yelled in Albus's office two hours later. "That is the most ridiculous…" He ran his hands through his hair. "What?"

Harry was also doubtful. "But, sir. Even if Ginny can hear Horcruxes, why didn't she hear it when she was staying at school after the Department of Mysteries? Or even was she was…well, you know."

"Possessed," Ginny said wearily. Harry looked at hands and nodded.

Hermione rubbed some sleep out of her eyes. "Unless the Horcrux was recently placed there."

"No one but myself, Harry, Sirius, Mrs. Figg, and a few Order members have been in the castle since the end of term." Albus suddenly rose from his seat and started pacing. "I would be surprised if Voldemort would allow one of his servants to handle a Horcrux."

"But he hasn't been in the castle in over fifty years," Remus said tiredly.

Harry shook his head. "Unless you count my first year. _And_ Malfoy had the diary."

"How many effing Horcruxes are there?" Ron wondered. "I mean, so far we know about the diary, the locket, and the mystery object."

"And Harry," Albus mumbled quietly, ignoring the look of shock on many faces. "Without it, he wouldn't have survived Voldemort's resurrection."

Mad-Eye rubbed at his stubble. "So it's been in the castle for years but also has not been in the castle for years. Just like Crouch Jr. was in the castle and not in the castle."

Sirius groaned. "It's nearly one in the morning, Mad-Eye. Don't speak in riddles."

"It's in the Room of Requirement," Hermione translated. "Just like how Crouch was hiding in there after he was discovered. Which is why we couldn't find him anywhere in the castle, and he wasn't on the Map."

Ginny made a frustrated noise. "And the Room of Requirement is on the same floor as Gryffindor Tower. I would have heard it before."

"The Room of Requirement changes into different rooms, in a way." Harry frowned, getting confused. He wondered if Order meetings were always this intense. "Right?"

"Who bloody knows?" Sirius said with a yawn.

Albus chuckled. "That is a way of looking at it. Especially since Ginny is only now hearing it. Perhaps this was the first time in a while that the particular room of the Room of Requirement has been used in a long time."

Arthur sighed, looking at his daughter worriedly. "There's only one way to find out."

* * *

They waited until morning when all the students were either in first period or catching a late breakfast. Ron and Hermione went to class, spreading the rumor that Harry and Ginny were being tested for Spattergroit. Although Harry was tired after being woken up in the middle of the night, he still had it in him to laugh at the sight of Dumbledore with the sword of Godric Gryffindor and a picture of himself in a sombrero with moroccos.

"Horcruxes can only be destroyed with powerful magic or powerful magical objects," Albus said, sounding a bit like a teacher giving a lecture.

The sides of Harry's mouth twitched. "And the picture, sir?"

Albus chuckled. "I require a place to hide it, my boy. Just like Voldemort required a place to hide his Horcrux. And whoever entered the Room of Requirement last night."

"Can we get on with the show please?" Sirius asked nervously. "Knowing us, this isn't going to go smoothly."

They passed the Room the required number of times until the door appeared in apprehensive silence. Finally, they opened the door to find so much stuff that one could barely walk. It looked like a dump, in Harry's opinion, only less smelly.

"Wouldn't be surprised if there was a body somewhere in here," Mad-Eye said gruffly. Shuddering in revulsion, Remus stepped away from a pile of junk.

Ginny looked at Harry hopefully. "Do you hear it? The whispering?"

Frowning, Harry strained his ears. The only thing he could hear was the occasional crunch of Dora stepping or tripping over something. "Sorry no."

"_Accio Horcrux!_" Sirius cried hopefully, pointing his wand straight in the air. His shoulders slumped when nothing happened.

"I suppose our best bet is with Ginny." Remus didn't look at Molly as he spoke. "A lot of people seem to have found a place that the Marauders never even knew existed!"

Sirius scowled. "Maybe it was just a few people with a shopping addiction."

"And Voldemort," Harry added as he browsed through all the rubbish lying about. Hermione would be appalled at the state of the books.

"Voldemort could have a shopping addiction," Sirius stated stubbornly.

"Shhhhh!" Ginny held up her hand, annoyed. "It's hard to hear with everyone jabbering."

Once everyone shut up, Ginny walked slowly through all the piles, stopping once and a while and turning left or right. The closer she got to it, the louder the whispering became. She still couldn't understand what it was saying though.

When she was right in front of it, she froze, then sat down slowly. It was whispering her name over and over again, calling her. "Ginny, Ginny, Ginny…"

Shivering, Ginny sifted through a pile of old toys, the voice becoming louder and more enticing as she dug. Finally, she ripped away an old dress to reveal a diadem. Everyone was forming a circle around her until she distantly heard Harry yell at them to give her some room. With shaking hands, Ginny grabbed the diadem.

As if burned, Ginny screamed and backed away. The diadem fell to the floor with a clang. She would never tell anyone but the reason she screamed, was because touching the diadem filled her veins with euphoria.

Slowly, Harry bent down and picked up the diadem as Ginny ran to her mother and started crying hysterically. He turned to Albus and handed it to him. "Are we going to destroy it now sir?"

"Yes," Albus said grimly. "That, my boy, once belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw."

"Ravenclaw's diadem and Slytherin's locket…" Remus stared at it in awe. "So does that mean he has something for every house?"

"Perhaps." Albus held out the sword for Harry. "Would you like to?"

"No." Ginny shook herself out of her mother's grasp. She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "I want to do it. He destroyed part of me. Now I want to destroy part of him."

Harry grinned, proud of Ginny. "I'll hold the diadem, and you stab it?"

Ginny nodded, but of course, Sirius had to object. "And get your hands chopped off?"

"Quit whining, Black," Mad-Eye barked. "The girl isn't blind! And she doesn't have to hack it to pieces as far as I know."

Albus shook his head, eyes twinkling. "No. One cut should do it."

Sirius pulled at his hair. "Ah!" He pointed at Harry. "Hold it still _on the ground!_ This is war, not a bloody letting go ceremony."

Harry rolled his eyes, took the diadem from Dumbledore and held it firmly on the ground. "If you say so, Sirius."

Taking a deep breath, Ginny took the sword from Dumbledore. She closed her eyes, opening them once Sirius yelled with disapproval and stabbed at the gem in the middle of it. She took a step back and tightened her grip on the sword, eyes widening as the area filled with black smoke. Ginny could have sworn that the smoke looked like Voldemort's face, but it was gone before she could confirm her suspicions.

* * *

Later that night, Harry decided that Order meeting were either extremely productive or extremely unproductive. Dumbledore was trying to convince Mr. and Mrs. Weasley that Ginny should become a member of the Order to find more possible Horcruxes. Since Bill, Percy, Fred, and George were also there, the meeting quickly turned into a Weasley Family Argument.

"But Dad," Bill tried. "Ginny can put an end to this. The War could be over much sooner. Think of all the people it will save."

"Ginny is our sister, Bill," Percy snapped. "We shouldn't put her in danger for _possible_ Horcruxes. For all we know, there are no more, and we could be risking her life for nothing."

"How about letting Ginny decide?" George asked, starting to get fed up.

"After last year, I will not allow this!" Arthur yelled. "She's fifteen years old, damn it! And it may be alright for everyone else's kid to live the life of someone double their age, but I will not have it!"

"What's that supposed to mean Arthur?" Sirius growled. Remus put a hand on his arm to keep him from getting out of his seat.

Arthur's eyes flashed. "Oh I don't know. Harry has to pretty much save the Wizarding World. Kim's married and will have a family of four before winter ends. Cedric is a convict on the run. Hermione's parents have a big fat target on their heads, but we're just going to ignore that because nothing's happened to them _yet._"

"And all of those things were out of our control," Remus said quietly, making Arthur flinch.

"We-we're sorry but…" Molly's eyes filled with tears. "We-we simply don't know what dangers lie ahead."

"I don't think we should argue about this until we know how many Horocruxes there are," Harry said loudly, before Sirius and Mr. Weasley could start arguing again. "How can we even know where to look for something if we don't know whether it exists or not?"

Albus sighed. He had a feeling of how many Horocruxes there are, but he had no proof. "Harry's right. I have my suspicions about Nagini, but we all know is that she is always by her master's side."

Sirius glared at Arthur, who guiltily wouldn't meet his eye. "Then I guess the meeting's adjourned."

* * *

Harry yawned as he headed to the floo after the Order meeting. Since Dumbledore was telling everyone that he and Ginny had to miss a half day because they had to be tested for Spattergroit, he wondered if everyone would keep their distance from him tomorrow. He was grabbing the floo powder when Kim yanked him out of the fireplace. "Ow!"

Kim grinned and gave his arm another tug. "Did you miss me already?"

"The school year has been dreadful so far without you so, yeah." Harry smiled softly, realizing how much he did miss her. "What about yours?"

Kim laughed and ran her hand over where she felt what she thought was a little foot. "Professor Black is a horrible Potions teacher! He reads straight from the notes that Snape sends him!"

"I resent that," Sirius muttered as he entered the parlor. He glanced at his watch, seeing that it was nearly midnight. "And why aren't you in bed? You're usually dead to the world right now."

Kim sighed sadly. "Unfortunately, my bed does not have orange juice."

Sirius winced. "And neither does the fridge."

Kim looked at him expectantly. "Sirius? Remember that time your ruined my wedding, which was supposed to be one of the happiest days of my life?"

"Fine! Fine!" Sirius held up his hands in surrender. "I'll go to the store, risk my life and be murdered by Death Eaters so your sprogs can have orange juice."

"And if you come back with no pulp, you'll have to risk your life and be murdered again," Kim said simply as Sirius rolled his eyes and grabbed a coat.

Harry laughed as Sirius slammed the door. "At least you have your priorities in line."

Kim hummed and threw herself on the couch. "We should have a sleepover."

Harry shook his head. "I have school in the morning. Next year—"

"I'm not going back next year," Kim muttered. "I can't leave them."

Harry frowned, wondering if she shared that plan with anyone else. "Sirius said you and Malfoy would go during the day while they stayed with the babies."

Stunned, Kim opened and closed her mouth several times, not sure of what to say. She had actually expected homeschooling until she graduated. Harry could tell by the defiant look in her eyes that she would have to be dragged to Hogwarts by her hair. "I guess we'll see next year."

"Er, okay." Harry supposed now wasn't a good time to confront her about letting Blaise know the real reason why she wasn't in school. "I thought-It's just… you didn't even want them."

Her eyes flashed, and Harry caught a glimpse of guilt before it was covered up with offense. "Well I changed my mind! I want them, and they want disgusting, pulpy orange juice. Got a problem with it?"

Harry's mouth twitched with effort not to smile. "No, no. I've never had a problem with disgusting, pulpy orange juice."

Glaring at him, Kim pegged a cushion pillow at him. "Gee thanks, Uncle Harry."

Harry clutched the pillow, half tempted to peg the pillow back at her, especially since Malfoy was sleeping and not around to have a meltdown. Kim laughed tauntingly and stuck her tongue out at him, tempting him further. He was about to threaten her when she pushed a bit of her hair behind her ear. "What the hell?"

Kim froze and rolled her eyes. "What? I don't think anything will happen if you throw a pillow at me. If it does, then I have the most delicate canaries on the planet."

Harry shook his head. "No. L-look at your hand. The one with the ring on it! It-it's turning black!"

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	10. The Usual

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 10

At first, Kim didn't believe him. "Hahaha," she said sarcastically. "I think I would notice if my hand was—"

With a flick of his wand, Harry turned on a nearby lamp. "Actually, you're pretty oblivious when it comes to your body…as usual."

Kim looked at her hand with horror. She hadn't given Narcissa's ring much thought lately. Her entire hand wasn't black, just the skin around it and most of her ring finger. "Well, shit."

Harry glared at her. "Yeah, shit. And you always say I'm the blind one."

"I resent that," Kim said as she rose slowly from the couch. "At least my head isn't exploding."

"This isn't funny," Harry muttered as he dragged her upstairs to where he sure Remus was getting ready for bed.

"I know." Kim looked fearfully at her hand as they stopped by Remus and Sirius's door. "But I _feel _fine."

At the sound of their voices, Remus opened the door, wearing the shirt he was wearing today with pajama pants. "What's going on? Where's Sirius?"

Harry glared at her because of his last question while Kim pouted. "At the store buying me orange juice."

Remus laughed softly. "Hopefully he had enough sense to put on a glamour."

"Remus?" Kim asked as lightly as she could with the worry that was making her heart start to race. "If I lost a finger, do you think Sirius would kill Draco?"  
"Uh…" Remus turned to Harry for help, having no idea what was going on. "Unless he cut it off himself, I doubt it."

Annoyed, Harry lifted up Kim's hand. "Not exactly."

Remus paled and looked away. "Merlin. Can't you go through anything normally?"

"Apparently not…" Kim pulled her hand out of Harry's and rubbed her belly nervously. _They're fine, _sheinsisted to herself. _They were just moving a few minutes ago._

Remus shook his head and started heading for the fireplace. "Of all the…How?"

Sirius was just coming in when Remus was heading for the floo. He narrowed his eyes. "What now?"

Kim sighed and took the plastic bag from him. "The usual."

Sirius groaned, just wanting to crawl into bed and call it a night. "There is no 'the usual' in this house."

Harry grinned at his godfather's exasperation. "The usual unusual, I suppose."

"As long as no one's dead or mortally wounded," Sirius grumbled, only really starting to worry when Kim didn't joke in response. Instead, her eyes became a little distant, and she headed into the kitchen.

After putting the juice in the fridge, Kim stomped up the stairs, frustrated with life in general. Draco was sound asleep in their room, but she was too upset to wake him up gently and started kicking the bedframe until he woke up with a start. He blinked in surprise. "Wha—?"

Kim kicked the bed one last time. "Why couldn't we just get pregnant like normal people?!"

"Um…" Draco stared. She seemed okay. "What's going on?"

She showed him her ring finger as if she were giving him her middle. "How am I supposed to hold a bottle properly without a finger?"

Draco scrambled out of bed, nearly falling to the floor. He grabbed her hand. "Did you tell anyone?"

"Yes." Kim tried to smile, but it became more of a grimace. "I figured you wouldn't be very happy with me if I left you asleep while I lost a finger."

"You might not lose it," Draco said hopefully, running his fingers over her blackened skin. "Can you feel that?"

Kim nodded and bit her lip to stop herself from crying. "Do you think… They were _moving_ earlier."

Draco smiled, then kissed her forehead, putting a hand on the top of her belly. "They're fine. It's probably nothing. I think you would be in a bit more discomfort if you were losing your finger."

"My skin is black! Since when is that nothing?" Kim huffed as she started dragging Draco downstairs.

Darwin was already there by the time they returned to the parlor. His usual chirpiness only annoyed Kim further. It was a little past five in the morning where he was. "Lucky for you, I was just getting started on breakfast. I have a patient who's—"

"I don't care about your patient!" Kim yelled, ignoring Remus covering his ears. "If Harry wasn't the most observant blind guy in the world I would be fingerless or handless by now!"

"I am not blind!" Harry said with annoyance. "And even if I was, that's offensive!"

Darwin chuckled before Kim could respond. He held out his hand. "Let me see." As if her finger could fall off any minute, Kim quickly thrust her hand into his and closed her eyes. Darwin frowned. "I had hoped that this wasn't going to be a problem. Especially so early."

"What?" Kim looked at Draco fearfully, but he seemed to be shutting down. His face was blank, but he was clenching his fists so strongly that he knuckles were white.

"It's…" Darwin's usual cheerfulness quickly dissipated. "Malfunctioning I suppose. Maybe. The skin is black because it's been cut off from magic."

"But-but…" Sirius gulped. "She's fine. And so are the babies so I don't understand…"

"Actually, since nothing else is wrong…" Brow furrowed, Darwin slipped off her ring, and her finger slowly turned back to normal. "Leave it off for an hour. Or until you start to get a headache."

"What did you mean by malfunctioning?" Remus said slowly.

"It's not supposed to be worn for more than a year. Not even a year," Darwin muttered as he studied the runes on the ring more closely. "I thought her body was rejecting it, but that doesn't seem to be the case today. If that were to happen, the ring wouldn't do its job, stopping a miscarriage or early labor. And once it realized that it wasn't working…I fear that it may work too well"

"And that's not happening now?" Sirius asked once his words sunk in.

Darwin shook his head. "I really need to brush up on my ancient runes."

Kim tried to smile at Draco, but he still seemed to be in freak out mode. "Soooo what actually happened?"

"I really wish Abraxas was still alive." Darwin squinted, bringing the ring closer to his face. "It looks like… hmmm, I'm seeing a lot of runes that translates to 'heir' and 'magic'. Narcissa never mentioned them."

"You can ask his portrait," Draco said quietly. "It's at the Manor, in my father's office."

* * *

Harry went off to bed after that, saying that he couldn't miss another day of school. The rest, including Narcissa and Lucius once they were awoken, headed to the Manor. Kim yawned. All this started because she wanted some orange juice. But she supposed she would have freaked if she woke up later that morning to find a blackened hand. Once she felt a few kicks or punches or whatever they were, she stopped worrying so much.

Kim had to say that Abraxas looked like a fatter, grayer version of Draco's father. And he was grouchier. He glared at Lucius. "The portrait of your mother has kept me informed of the destruction of our bloodline."

Lucius glared back, although there was momentarily a flicker of fear in his eyes. "Thank you. For manipulating my wife during her grief and risking her life in the process."

Abraxas sneered at him, grip tightening on a cane that looked exactly like Lucius's. "You wouldn't have your son without the ring. Even if you did have another child, odds are it wouldn't be him."

Again, Kim yawned. "Yeah, yeah. No one cares. We have questions for you."

Abraxas narrowed his eyes until they were thin slits. "I always thought Draco would prefer someone quieter. Or were you a one nighter gone horribly wrong?"

Kim gaped, too stunned for words, so Narcissa swooped in and smiled charmingly. "It doesn't matter, Brax. My son loves her. And like she said we have a few questions."

Abraxas snorted. "Doesn't matter? You should have let them be born bastards that way Draco could find someone more suitable—"

"Grandfather," Draco cut in, voice like ice. "What do the heir and magic runes mean? And why would it cause her finger and some of the skin around it to turn black?"

Abraxas blinked for a moment and then laughed. "I told you. I told everyone. Dirty blood ruins—"

"Now listen here you fat pig," Sirius spat. "She's my daughter, and I'm not against scraping some paint off your portrait to get answers."

Abraxas smirked, unfazed. "Magic is like blood. The child-or one of the children must have needed some. It wouldn't need all of it, since it's so small."

Kim shook her head and put her hand over the smaller baby, thinking that was who Abraxas was talking about. "I wasn't in any pain or—"

"An heir!" Abraxas shouted and rolled his eyes. "I made that ring for an heir! One of those little bastards must have been a Squib. The ring drained some of your magic to give the child what it lacked. I would not allow the Malfoy heir to be a Squib."

"Can you please refrain from calling them bastards?" Lucius pleaded. "This was why I didn't tell you."

"There has never been a Squib in the Malfoy family!" Abraxas barked as if Lucius hadn't spoken. "And there has never been a halfblood either! How could you let this happen Lucius? I told you to arrange a marriage contract for that boy! I could tell from the time he was four that he was a little off. Clung to his mother too much!"

Meanwhile, while Abraxas was practically foaming at the mouth in his portrait, Remus breathed a sigh of relief and put his arm around Kim's shoulders. "Let's go home. Put the ring back on and go to bed. I don't want your magic depleting anymore tonight."

Kim raised her eyebrows at Abraxas's ranting. "I thought people were supposed to mellow out when they got old and fat."

Remus laughed at Lucius, who resembled a ten year old boy getting a scolding. "Maybe the Dragon Pox addled his brain."

"And another thing," Abraxas went on. "I do not want my name on the family tree if those two bastards are going to be—"

"SHUT UP!" Draco yelled so loudly that everyone jumped. He stressed out enough for one night. "I do not care that I was too soft for your liking. I do not care about your dirty blood theories, and I do not even care that one of the babies was going to be a Squib. In a few years, one of them is going to come toddling in, and you are going to slap a smile on your sorry face and welcome them as if it were one of your proudest moments."

At first, Abraxas stared in stunned shock with everyone else. Then, he took out cigar out of his coat pocket, putting it between his teeth. "And that," he said, "…is why I didn't want you too close to your mother. I didn't want you to catch some of her spark."

* * *

Harry laughed quietly as he took his mirror with him to Potions class. "We are going to get in so much trouble."

"Please!" Kim whined. "Draco practically has me on bed rest after last night! Nothing even happened, but Sirius and Remus agreed, and they want me to stay in bed and do nothing stressful for who knows how long! This is the highlight of my day!"

"I can hear Hermione now," Harry joked as he headed for the dungeons. "She'll call us a pair of cheaters."

Kim pouted. "Let me do just one lab with you! And if you're making a poison in the future, I would be forever in your debt if you brought your mirror. I'll just hide in the bathroom and lie and say I'm constipated."

Harry grimaced. "Thanks for the info."

"Well I'm not really!" she said hotly. "But it's a common symptom so they'll believe it!"

"Right." Harry turned to see Hermione heading their way. "Just remember to keep quiet."

"When have I ever not been quiet when I needed to be?" Kim asked. Harry rolled his eyes but said nothing as class started. He placed the mirror on his notebook and said nothing as Ron and Hermione sat on either side of him. Thankfully, Hermione was too eager to get started on the lesson to say anything.

Mrs. Figg, now Professor Figg, smiled at them nervously. "H-hello. Today, we will be studying antidotes during the second half. During the first half, we will learn about detecting poisons and signs of poisoning."

"Yessss!" Kim whispered loudly, sounding very girly. Harry felt his face heat up as several people turned around, thinking it was him. He didn't dare look in Hermione's direction and was sure that she was preparing a lecture for him.

Professor Figg smiled, also thinking that Harry had spoken. "Would you like to tell me some signs of identifying common poisons, Mr. Potter?'

Harry froze. Maybe, if he had the slightest idea. "Er…"

After half a minute of awkward silence, Harry heard a faint rustling coming from the mirror. He glanced at it to see that Kim held a small piece of paper up to the mirror with her loopy handwriting on it. "Smell?"

Professor Figg nodded in approval. "Many poisons are tasteless, so if you ever aren't at home, you should smell something before you eat or drink it. If the scent is even a little bit off, you have every right to be suspicious."

"She's starting to sound like Mad-Eye," Ron mumbled under his breath.

"Do you have anything to add, Mr. Weasley?" Professor Figg said stiffly. "Perhaps how to detect tasteless poisons that do not have a scent?"

Harry heard Kim snicker and knew she wasn't going to help Ron out. "Well…" Ron glanced at Hermione, who stared straight ahead with her hand in the air. "Well, uh, I think whatever it is will be wet… yeah, it'll be a little watery looking because it had something extra added to it."

Professor Figg smiled kindly. "Nice try." There was no malice in her voice like Snape would have had. "While that is the case with some poisons, many only need a few drops. How about… Miss…" Hermione looked ready to explode with anticipation. "Bulstrode?"

To everyone's surprise, Millicent actually knew the answer. "Some potions are simply undetectable. However, the next course of action would be to check the texture. A poison, even in small doses, can thicken a drink or make certain foods harder or easier to chew."

"Excellent!" Professor Figg started writing a list on the bored. "Now, if you're ever in a pickle, there is an incantation that can check for poisons if you don't want to risk a taste test. Luckily, undetectable poisons are often very expensive with very rare ingredients. Miss Granger? Would you like to demonstrate the incantation for me?"

* * *

"I don't know if I like her," Hermione informed Ron and Harry at lunch. "I guess I have to get used to her."

Ron stared as he started eating his sandwich. "You mean you don't know if you like the fact that she calls on people randomly and ignores your raised hand."

Hermione pursed her lips. "Why would she waste time asking people who might not know?"

Harry smiled. Hermione always felt the need to prove herself in class. "So everyone gets a chance. Sometimes people know the answer but are too afraid to speak up."

"Especially, with you flailing your arm in the air like the teacher is high up in the sky on a broom and can't see you," Ron added.

Hermione narrowed her eyes like she had no idea what Ron was talking about, but Harry knew she did since her cheeks were a little flushed with embarrassment. Instead of responding, she decided to change the subject. "And you really shouldn't bring Kim to lessons Harry. She's supposed to be covered in purple sores. If someone saw—"

"She's bored," Harry said, a little defensively. "You know how Sirius can be. And because of you know what, Malfoy's backing him, and Remus is still shaken up after last year, so they're all being overprotective after last night."

Hermione shook her head. "It's too risky. Not to mention cheating."

Harry rolled his eyes. "She answered one question, Hermione."

"And helped you with antidote." Hermione poured herself some pumpkin juice. "She doesn't evenly follow the book. You could get seriously hurt, following her little added comments."

"You're just jealous because Harry's antidote was stronger than yours," Ron said with his mouth full.

Hermione wrinkled her nose with disgust. "Whatever. But be careful Harry. You know what, as Ron put it, is way more important to her than Potions."

* * *

Unfortunately, when Hermione had said that they would be busy as NEWTs students, she was right. They didn't get a chance to visit Kim, and it was already mid-October. Snape was practically killing them with Defense. Harry tried to take it as a personal challenge but was starting to dread class after Snape made Lavender Brown cry.

"You better visit during Halloween!" Kim whined through the mirror. "Sirius is all bummed out that it's too risky to go to Godric's Hollow."

Harry winced. Halloween was a Thursday this year. "I'm visiting the day after. After dinner and staying for the weekend. _But_ I have a Defense essay due and a test in Charms to study for."

Kim rolled her eyes. "Boring! Everyone's boring! All I ever do is eat and study. And I've gained _so _much weight!"

"I promise to only study and do homework when Hermione tells me to," Harry swore. "I'm heading to the dungeons to get my first Potions test grade so please be quiet once I get there! Mrs. Figg keeps thinking your voice is my voice."

"You wish you had my voice," Kim said arrogantly. Then she sighed sadly. "I don't think the bigger one likes my voice. If I talk too loud, I get a kick in the ribs!"

"Didn't I just say I was heading to the Dungeons?" Harry hissed. "As in the Snake's Nest? Don't mention getting kicked in the ribs! Better yet, try to look a little more purple."

Kim's eyes widened. "Aren't you listening?! This is a potential crisis! What if—?"

As he entered the Dungeons, Harry hastily shoved his mirror into his bag, not trusting her to stop talking. Pansy passed him as he entered the Potions classroom, looking as tired and worried as ever. She didn't even notice Harry wave. Trying to push his worries aside, Harry smiled warmly when he entered the classroom. "Good morning, Professor Figg!"

Mrs. Figg returned the smile. "Hello, Harry! I try to give students their grades separately whenever possible. I always hated it as a girl when students tried to compare grades. An O may be good for some, and an A may be good for others."

Harry chuckled. "You sound like the opposite of Hermione."

"Ah yes. Mrs. Granger." Mrs. Figg's eyes filled with laughter. "I don't know how she can do it. Perfection is too… overwhelming. I've tried to calm her down by not calling on her and only asking her for help, but I fear that I'm only making things worse."

"I think she's worried that you think she doesn't know the answer." Harry glanced at Hermione's Potion on the shelf. It was the exact color the textbook said it should be.

"Just the opposite, actually." Mrs. Figg walked over to the shelf and grabbed Harry's Potion. "I want my students to feel okay with giving me the wrong answer. You are here to learn, not get everything right."

Harry grinned, thinking of Snape. "I think Snape tries to scare us into getting the right answer."

Mrs. Figg looked exhausted at the thought. "That is an effective strategy but a tough one. I bet you all meet together after class to try to get the lesson right for next time."

Harry frowned. They did actually. And Lavender worked the hardest. "I think people would riot if you called Snape's teaching strategy effective."

Mrs. Figg shrugged. "They already think I'm batty." She glanced at her gradebook a smiled. "You got an O on the practical and a low E on the written, which averages out to an E+."

"Brilliant!" Harry grinned but quickly frowned. "Er, Professor Figg…there's a smoking cauldron behind you."

Mrs. Figg spun around, not too concerned. "Oh! I let students practice whatever they want and leave their product here." She bent over and put the cauldron on the table before them. "I'm not sure what this student… Miss Parkinson was trying to make."

Harry remembered how tired Pansy looked. "Maybe Dreamless Sleep?"

"No…" Mrs. Figg leaned over and sniffed the smoke, coughing a bit. "That has to be chilled once completed."

"Whatever it is… It doesn't look good."

Mrs. Figg sat straight up. "You're right." She grabbed Harry by the arm and steered him out of the room. "We're both going to need an antidote. It was a very strong, illegal Potion."

"So inhaling it wasn't a good idea," Harry tried to joke as they started to head off to the Hospital Wing.

"No, not at all." Mrs. Figg turned and glanced at the classroom. "Can you use magic to seal the door? I don't want anyone else inhaling the fumes."

Harry turned around and took out his wand. "Sure."

But before he could utter and incantation, they were knocked to the ground by the explosion of the potion. The Potions classroom with filled with flames.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review!**


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